A rejuvenated Shaun Murphy claimed his latest comeback win at the Masters was a victory for hard graft after moving into the semi-finals at Alexandra Palace last night.
Former world champion Murphy, who has suffered a series of disappointing results this season, beat Marco Fu, of Hong Kong, 6-4 in the £600,000 tournament after reeling off the last five frames.
That came after a first-round recovery against Ding Junhui, from China, and the 31-year-old Murphy, seeking to claim a first Masters title and complete the Triple Crown having already triumphed at the UK Championship and at the Crucible, was delighted.
But he also highlighted, that bizarrely just 24 hours after world No1 Neil Robertson had complained the arena was far too warm, there had been