2015 Masters - Murphy overcomes thriller

Shaun Murphy beats Mark Selby

The first day and the first match here at Alexandra Palace from London and we had a real thriller on our hands. Shaun Murphy beat three-time Masters champion Mark Selby by 6-5 to become the first player with a secure spot in the quarter-finals of the 2015 Masters.

All of us were waiting for an exciting opening match and that's exactly what we got, although it didn't seem to be that way from the very start.

Selby was the one to break the ice with a great break of exactly 100 points, but Murphy won a scrappy frame to draw level and took advantage of Selby missing the last red in frame three, to go 2-1 ahead.

As the mid-session interval was approaching, the gap became even bigger, "The Magician" scoring a beautiful 92 break (which was actually a 147 attempt) to which he added a solid 55 followed by a 56, as the match re-started.

Not a very good day for The Jester

Being led by 5-1, Selby was in all sorts of trouble, but we all know that somehow "The Jester" likes a bit of drama with his snooker, so it was not a huge surprise to see him perform a full comeback.

A scrappy 6^th frame won with a top break of 26, followed by a beautiful 120 clearance were putting Selby two frames behind, when Murphy seemed ready to close the deal.

But a missed black of its spot down on 39 was leaving Selby with the chance to capitalise and keep the match alive; and that's precisely what he did, breaks of 54 and 92 forcing the decider.

The last frame was a bit edgy and both players missed some pretty important chances, but in the end Murphy crossed the victory line with a top break of 40.

The cue action continues from 7pm with the likes of Stuart Bingham and Marco Fu.