2026 World Snooker Championship: Neil Robertson victory equals Crucible seeds record
In the first of the last 16 matches, 2005 winner Shaun Murphy defeated China’s Xiao Guodong 6-2.
Murphy defeated Fan Zhengyi 10-9 in the first round and described his 50-point game-winning break as his best offense yet at the Crucible after trailing 53-17.
However, the 43-year-old Englishman found this session calmer as he made breaks of 79, 103, 63 and 64 to take a 5-0 lead.
World number nine Xiao took the next two frames, but Murphy finished the session well, finishing the last with 61 points to take a four-frame lead into the top 13 match.
The match resumes at 10am BST on Friday and Murphy can win the match with a session to spare if he wins seven of the eight frames in that session. The third session will be held from 19.00 if needed.
Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen has a 5-3 lead over 2024 champion Kyren Wilson of England.
Two-time semi-finalist Allen made breaks of 50 and 78 to take a 5-0 lead, but Wilson won the final three frames of the session with the help of runs of 75 and 50.
The second session will be played on Friday at 14:30 and will end on Saturday morning.
