Murphy to face Wilson in Masters final after making 147 break

On the way to a victory that would make him the only player with a maximum 147 break in the history of the Masters, Shaun Murphy won the matchup with world champion Kyren Wilson.

Murphy achieved the feat in his 6-3 semi-final win over Mark Allen on Saturday.

Wilson will now face Wilson, who defeated him in a meeting with Judd Trump, who won the UK Championship in November at the same time as he did.

Wilson, who is second in the rankings, enjoyed breaks of 61, 89, 60, 76, 88 and 85 before getting over the winning line with a superb century.

Earlier on Saturday, Murphy’s maximum came as he established a 4-2 lead over Northern Ireland’s Allen in the best-of-11 encounter.

“I can’t believe it. It was an incredible moment, one of the best of my snooker career”, Murphy told BBC Sport

Since I was a young child, I’ve wanted to score 147 on one of the BBC events. The other day, I had a fantastic opportunity, and I completely messed it up. I had great support from the crowd, who were absolutely amazing”.

Since 1975, the Masters competition was first held in 1975, and he is only the fifth player to have broken all 15 reds with 15 blacks, completing the feat for the first time.

But he made no mistake this time, displaying immaculate cue-ball control throughout.

As Alexandra Palace fans erupted, it caused cheery scenes, with Murphy receiving Allen’s warm congratulations.

Even though I was at the wrong end of it this year, Allen continued, “The 147 was such a buzz.”

The only players with more than 147 breaks in his career, besides Ronnie O’Sullivan (15), John Higgins (15), and Stephen Hendry (11), are world number seven Murphy.

Murphy, 42, who won the tournament in 2015, had trailed 2-0, with world number four Allen dominating the early tactical exchanges.

However, as the momentum picked up in a more sparse third frame, Murphy then reeled off four more frames in a single frame, culminating with the 147.

A timely half-century briefly helped Allen reduce the arrears, but when he missed a red while attempting a plant, Murphy was able to knock in a 72 to go 5-3 ahead.