Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy emerged with semi-final spots in the 2025 Masters after respective 6-2 victories over Mark Selby and Neil Robertson on Thursday.
The pair set up a tantalising last-four showdown against one another at the Alexandra Palace in London.
Allen, who lifted the Paul Hunter Trophy seven years ago, ousted Selby with a determined display of match snooker.
The Pistol began strongly with breaks of 81 and 104 to lead 2-1 before demonstrating his improved tactical nous against one of the all-time greats in that department.
It consigned Selby to another early exit in the prestigious invitational having not been beyond the quarters since 2014, and the three-time champion will be left ruing the fourth and sixth frames that he lost on the black.
“He made some mistakes, but the fourth frame was the bigger one,” Mark Allen told the World Snooker Tour after the contest.
“I had no right to win that frame the way the balls were sitting. I think I was 60-something behind.”
“I think every ball was on the cushion at one point, so I just fought hard and played a lot of good safety.
“I got back in the frame and got a wee bit of run as well towards the end of that frame.
“I managed to win it on the black. Look, any win against Mark is a good win, but I can definitely count myself lucky on this one.
“I think Mark is probably the best player of all time when it comes to safety.
“But I think that’s probably the first time that I feel like I dictated play against him.
“Especially on the safety side, I felt like I played better safety than he did aside from the bits of luck I got here and there.
“In general, I felt like I had control of the game, and that’s a real positive sign to take forward.
“I’m closer than where I was a few months back – happier with where my game is at.
“There’s still room for improvement, and there’s still work to be done on the practice table to feel comfortable out there on what I’ve changed.
“I felt like, in parts of that match, it sort of slipped back into bad habits. I want to try to get out of that.
“But in general, there’s a lot of good stuff in there. I’m going to just try and be very upbeat at the minute.”
Murphy, meanwhile, had already booked his place in the Masters semi-finals by beating Robertson in the afternoon game.
The Magician, who was the runner-up at the Shanghai Masters this term, played close to his best as he outgunned the Australian with breaks of 120, 90, 82, 67, and 66.
Yet Murphy will have some regret after botching a 147 attempt in the last frame, where he played a poor 15th black and snookered himself on the yellow behind the blue.
“I can’t believe it,” Shaun Murphy, whose last Triple Crown title was at the Masters ten years ago, told WST.
“At the start of the season, I set myself little goals, and making a max in one of these big three events was one of them.”
“So to get so close, I’m gutted about that. But I’m not going to let that take the shine off what was a good day at work.
“I remember walking in as an 11 or 12-year old walking into the [Wembley] Conference Centre and saying to my friend John Wilson, ‘do you think I’ll ever get to play here?’
“And you know, the Ally Pally is better. It’s a dream come true to walk down those steps.
“You can see what it means to the debutants every year when they come here, they see it at the top of those stairs.
“But do you know what? It feels like that every time, and I’m honoured to walk down them.”
Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen will face off on Saturday afternoon, and it’ll be intriguing to see if there is any needle or not considering the mini war of words that the duo has shared lately.
On Friday, the remaining two quarter-final ties will first be played.
Judd Trump and Ding Junhui clash in a mouthwatering fixture, while Kyren Wilson entertains Luca Brecel in a battle of the two most recent world champions.
Featured photo credit: WST
