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Shaun Murphy hit only the sixth 147 in the history of snooker’s Masters tournament as he extended his lead over semi-final opponent Mark Allen in style.
Murphy potted 15 reds and 15 blacks before clearing up the colours, and he punched the air as the 2,200 fans inside Alexandra Palace gave a standing ovation.
Allen, one of only four players to have previously achieved the feat at the Masters since its inception in 1975 along with Kirk Stevens, Ding Junhui (twice) and Marco Fu, shook Murphy by the hand and offered his congratulations.
The Northern Irishman had led 2-0 before Murphy hit back with four frames in a row in the race to six.
After a nervous start from both players, each missing routine reds into the bottom corner, it was Allen, tournament winner in 2018, who eventually built a couple of solid breaks which proved enough to take the opening frame.
Some more solid scoring and safety play from the Northern Irishman saw him extend his lead before Murphy got a frame on the board with a break of 66 to reduce the deficit.
A long red helped set 2015 champion Murphy on his way to a run of 83 as he levelled the match at 2-2 heading into the mid-session interval.
On the resumption, Murphy did not allow his momentum to be checked by an appearance from the Alexandra Palace wasp, going on to complete the turnaround and lead 3-2 helped by a break of 54.
‘The Magician’ had missed a maximum attempt during his 6-2 win over Neil Robertson on Thursday, having snookered himself behind the blue when on 120, but maintained perfect position as he picked off three tricky reds around the pink spot.
Murphy confidently knocked in the colours off their spots to write history at the Masters.
