World champion Wu Yize overcame “a lot of mistakes” to edge past Shaun Murphy 6-5 and reach the Shanghai Masters semi-finals.
Meeting for the first time since Wu won the dramatic World Championship final in May, the 22-year-old trailed by five frames to four in the third round, having led 3-1, before building his fifth 50-plus break of the match to force a decider.
After England’s Murphy unexpectedly missed a red when leading 62-29 in the final frame, the Chinese held his nerve to clear the black and complete another nail-biting win.
Wu will face England’s Judd Trump in the last four after he brushed aside Scotland’s John Higgins 6-0, including three consecutive century breaks in the final three frames.
“Although the result was good and I managed to win the match, I never really took control of it. Hopefully I can find my rhythm and get back to my best in the next match as I prepare for the semi-finals,” said Wu.
“I definitely made a lot of mistakes that I shouldn’t have made. To be honest, I didn’t expect to get another chance in the deciding frame, and I was quite surprised when Shaun missed and let me in.
“I don’t think either of us played particularly well today. It wasn’t as high a standard as the match we produced in the World Championship final.”
Defending champion Kyren Wilson recovered from 5-3 down to beat three-time world champion Mark Williams in a deciding frame, reeling off breaks of 61, 54 and 113 to complete his comeback.
He will face 2025 world champion Zhao Xintong in a repeat of last year’s semi-final, which Wilson won 10-5.
Zhao crushed Australia’s Neil Robertson 6-0, with a highest break of 117 in the third frame.
