Shaun Murphy claimed his first victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan since 2017, with a 4-0 whitewash, as he moved into the quarter-finals of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.
It was the primary event since 2023 that seven-time world champion O’Sullivan had didn’t win a body in any contest of seven frames or extra.
Murphy, who had additionally earlier defeated 15-year-old Ziyad Al-Qabbani 4-0, produced a number of beautiful pots and registered breaks of 53 and 93 in opposition to O’Sullivan, who had little or no time to search out his rhythm.
“I do not know what the statistics are, however it’s a very long time since I’ve tasted victory in opposition to Ronnie and they’re particular any time they arrive up even briefly match like this,” Murphy informed TNT Sports activities.
“It’s such a prestigious occasion and you realize everyone seems to be attempting 100% so regardless of it solely being a best-of-seven I used to be happy with how I performed and delighted to get by way of.
“I simply tried to exit and play like I’ve all season and fortunately for me most of these lengthy reds went in.”
Murphy will now face present Crucible champion Zhao Xintong within the final eight on Thursday (20:00 GMT) in an occasion that has attracted enormous publicity for providing a reward of $1m (£760,000) for potting the golden ball after making a most 147.
