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Audio: Murphy steps through but Wenbo causes upset
Shaun Murphy waltzed to a 10-3 Crucible victory over veteran Dave Harold then revealed he would love to appear on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.
The 2005 world champion showed nimble feet at the table at the 888.com World Championship first round yesterday, converting a 7-2 overnight advantage into a 10-3 triumph. Click PLAY to hear Murphy.
And he explained his eye-catching trousers – with a gold dash down the seam of the leg – were the creation of Jason Cutler, who designs costumes for the hit BBC show.
The Rotherham potter got hooked after he was invited to watch filming of the show by good friend Willie Thorne, and now dreams of following in the footsteps of other sportsmen such as Yorkshire captain Darren Gough in donning sequinned outfits.
"I went to see Strictly Come Dancing as a guest of Willie Thorne before Christmas and it changed my life," he said.
"I met up with the guy who does all the tailoring for Strictly, Jason Cutler, and I've wanted to do the sparkly trouser and waistcoat thing for quite a while.
"But I've not really found anyone who could do what I wanted.
"We've been working on it for a couple of months trying to get it right, sourcing the crystals, and I think they went down well.
"I'm keen to differentiate between the day-time and night -time play. The players used to do it years ago, wear different coloured suits and ties, and I think that should be brought back."
Murphy does have a musical background; he plays the piano and also took dancing lessons, wowing guests at his wedding when he and wife Clare broke into a ballroom jive.
On the table, Murphy – who has reached at least the semi-finals in his last five tournaments and is the provisional world No 1 for next season – was never in trouble against Harold, crossing the finish line with breaks of 102, 72 and 73 to set-up a last-16 match with Ali Carter.
But there was a first-round exit for two former world champions in Ken Doherty and Graeme Dott, the latter's miserable season ending in a 10-7 defeat to Joe Perry.
Chinese youngster Liang Wenbo beat Doherty 10-5 in a huge Crucible upset. Listen to Doherty's reaction.
Leading 7-2 from the morning session, the Sheffield-based left-hander was a worthy winner, scoring heavily against the 1997 champion, who will be forced to go to the qualifiers next season after falling out of the top 16.
Two-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan will have to improve today if he wants to avoid the same end. Paired with 17-year-old Liu Chuang, O'Sullivan raced into a 3-0 lead and it looked ominous for the Chinese teenager, making his Crucible debut. But Liu, who shares a house in Sheffield with Liang during the season, picked up a 92 break to gain some confidence and went on to level at 3-3.
Liu then allowed O'Sullivan in and he cleared the table with a 57 break, a 55 knock from Liu made it 4-4, but O'Sullivan won the final frame. The match will be completed today.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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