Murphy and Selby hanging on by thread - 05/11/2010

Shaun Murphy 3 – 3 Mark Selby
80 (80) – 0, 0 – 100 (100), 114 (52, 58) – 3, 19 – 60 (31), 0 – 91 (91), 96 - 64 (56)

The second match of the evening was a quality match-up as Mark Selby and defending champion Shaun Murphy shared the spoils at the Hutton Moor Leisure Centre to leave both their Premier League futures hanging in the balance.

Selby now faces Ronnie O’Sullivan in his final match, needing to win – although a point may see him through depending how the other matches play out. Murphy, on the other hand, needs seven points to guarantee qualification and with four points in the bag and two games to go, he has work to do.

The defending champion got off to a flyer with a snappy break of 80, before Selby struck a century, his fifth of the competition so far, to bag a thousand pounds and level things. They shared the next two before a Selby run of 90 secured him a point and put him in the driving seat.

The final frame was an epic affair that ran in at nearly 40 minutes and in the end Murphy prevailed following a lengthy tussle on the colours.

“It was tough overall and a good game. I was disappointed to lose but Shaun nicked it off me at the end,” said Selby.

“I would have been happy with 3-3 at the start but felt I could have won at 2-2. This is without doubt the toughest League I’ve been involved with and I have a tough one against Ronnie for my last match,” he added.

“To go 3-2 behind, I can only remember two shots that I was disappointed with and I sat in my chair feeling sorry with myself. However, how I performed at the end and scrapped out a point is a part of a game that I have been working on,” said Murphy.