Two of the semi-finalists at this year's World Snooker Championships were decided earlier today at the Crucible, with the remaining two places being confirmed later this evening. Both Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump from England triumphed over their international opposition with something to spare. The other two quarter-finals are intriguingly poised with very little to separate the players so far.
Anthony McGill 8 - 13 Shaun Murphy
Scotland's McGill has been the revelation of this year's tournament, with reigning champion Mark Selby being his notable scalp in the second round.
He found Murphy a far tougher proposition though and eventually succumbed to the consistency of "The Magician".
The match remained close up to the twelve frame when the two rivals were locked at 6 frames apiece. A surge of three winning frames in succession for Murphy moved him out to 9-6, after a third century of the match for him in frame 13 of 127 looked to be edging the tussle his way.
McGill remained focused and narrowed the gap to just one frame again at 8-9 behind, narrowly missing a century break of his own. His resistance only seemed to spur Murphy on, as the higher seed claimed the next four frames to march into the semi-finals.
This year's Masters' champion remains on course to repeat his world title success from back in 2005 after beating McGill.
His semi-final opponent will come from the winner of the Barry Hawkins and Neil Robertson match, which was poised at 8-7 in Hawkins' favour with one session remaining.
Ding Junhui 4 - Judd Trump 13
Trump was in command of his quarter-final with Ding from the early stages. After cruising into a 6-0 lead, including breaks of 82, 94 and 108, Ding clawed back two frames to reduce his arrears at the end of their first session of play.
The 25-year-old Englishman carried his impressive form into the next session to double his advantage to 12-4, scoring three centuries in the process. That left the Chinese number three seed with little chance of a comeback, as Trump was just one frame away from success. Indeed, he only required one further frame of their final session to clinch his victory, a break of 66 seeing him over the finishing line.
