Murphy keeps alive play-off hopes - 29/10/2009

Shaun Murphy 3-3 Stephen Hendry (best of 6)
Murphy's scores first
75-66 (Murphy 49, Hendry 46), 75-26 (Murphy 55), 5-110 (Hendry 42, 68), 6-100 (Hendry 96), 54-19, 23-66

SHAUN Murphy kept his hopes of reaching the 2009 PartyCasino.com Premier League semi-finals with a 3-3 draw against Stephen Hendry.

Murphy had started the competition with two defeats but recorded a 5-1 victory against Marco Fu 5-1 last week.

If Murphy had lost against Hendry at the Guild Hall in Preston then he would have been facing an uphill task to qualify for the play-offs, although he will be disappointed to not have won after being 2-0 ahead.

Seven-time World Champion Hendry made a bright opening as he moved 50 points ahead but made his first error of the match when the cue ball disappeared into the middle pocket.

Murphy scored 27 but then missed a black off the spot before, with the very next shot, Hendry failed to pot a red with the rest. Murphy this time capitalised and his break of 48 saw him steal the frame on a black ball finish.

The Englishman moved 2-0 up with a score of 55 in the second but Hendry pulled one back by claiming the third thanks to scores of 42 and 68.

Hendry maintained the fightback by claiming the fourth frame to level the scores at 2-2. He had looked on course to claim the £1,000 century bonus but missed out on what would have been his 737th competitive century throughout his career, although his score of 96 was still enough to make the match level.

The fifth was a scrappy frame that either player could have won. Both made mistakes as Murphy potted the blue and was aiming to play off the knuckle of the middle pocket but misjudged it and the cue ball went into the pocket. But Hendry's own error when he missed the last red and left it hanging over the pocket saw led to Murphy restoring his lead.

However, Hendry claimed a share of the points by winning the sixth. He was always ahead after Murphy cannoned into the blue off the break shot and left a rod on. Hendry claimed the frame 66-23 and is now third, while Murphy is just outside the play-offs in fifth.