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Murphy unable to build on his UK triumph
Ding Junhui ended the Masters title hopes of new UK champion Shaun Murphy – and then revealed his gameplan was to have fun in front of the London crowd.
With Wembley Arena still reeling after Ronnie O'Sullivan's wide-ranging attack on the state of the sport, Chinese hotshot Ding knocked out world No 3 Murphy with an impressive performance.
Ding won 6-4 to secure his place in the quarter-finals, where he will play either John Higgins or Marco Fu, the latter being the man Murphy beat in last month's Maplin UK Championship final.
Ding, who like his opponent made five 50-plus breaks, said: "It's a good result to beat Shaun for the first time, especially as he's just become UK champion.
"I just tried to enjoy the game because I don't like the pressure."
Murphy said: "I'm disappointed to lose, although it's nice to see Ding playing with freedom and enjoying himself."
Earlier, Northern Ireland's Mark Allen secured his place in the main draw with a 6-4 victory over England's Judd Trump in their wild-card round match.
Allen, 22, will play Welshman Ryan Day in the last 16 at Wembley after getting the better of his 19-year-old opponent.
The highlight of the match was Trump's break of 123 in the ninth frame, but Allen sealed victory with a run of 70 in the next.
Defending champion Mark Selby launched his bid for a second Masters title last night, but his match against Ricky Walden was proving slow-going. Selby trailed 2-1 after almost two hours of play.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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