Murphy into Crucible last 16, Bingham leads Wilson

Former world champion Shaun Murphy moved into the last 16 of the 2024 event with an impressive performance to beat China’s Lyu Haotian 10-5 on Monday at the Crucible.

Murphy, the 2005 winner, was 6-3 ahead after Sunday’s first session and won four of the next seven frames to set up a tie with Scotland’s Stephen Maguire.

Another former Crucible champion, Stuart Bingham, holds a 6-3 lead against 10th seed Gary Wilson and that match will be played to a finish in the evening session (19:00 BST).

Murphy said he was “absolutely delighted” to win his first-round match after going out at this phase in both the post two seasons.

He added: “I’m really bothered. I’ve not won here since the 2021 semi-final and it’s tough to keep coming back and losing. This is an important place, it’s like a love affair that keeps hurting you so to get that win after three years, I’m absolutely over the moon.”

On playing Stephen Maguire in the last 16, the world number eight added: “We’ve been putting on good shows since we were 10 years old. He was Scottish number one, I was English number one and we’ve been knocking hell out of each other for a long time.

“I can’t wait to get my teeth stuck into it. It will be a really good match and for the neutral it will be special. He’s one of the dangermen coming through qualifying. Ali [Carter, who lost 10-7 to Maguire] had the toughest draw of all the seeds.”