Murphy into Masters last eight despite Carter rally

Shaun Murphy held off a fightback from Ali Carter to book his place in the quarterfinals of the Dafabet Masters yesterday.

Murphy, the 2015 winner, raced into a 4-0 lead in the best of 11 first-round encounter at Alexandra Palace.

The former world champion rattled in a break of 119 in frame three and looked on course for a smooth passage at the midsession interval.

However, Carter came out of the blocks when they returned with breaks of 99 and 117 to cut the deficit to two.

Murphy took the seventh but a mistake allowed Carter to nick the eighth and the 38-year-old then moved to within one frame.

Murphy held his nerve in the 10th to secure a 6-4 victory and a last-eight meeting with Judd Trump.

“I didn’t think I was bottling it, but I had my chances at to win it at 5-2 and 5-3 and didn’t take them,” Murphy told the BBC.

“If I had lost I would only have had myself to blame.

“I actually thought he played better than me. It should have been closer after the first session and he won the second session.”

“In the end, it was another Murphy match that should’ve been 6-2 or 6-3 and it was a bit more stressful than that, but I’m happy in the end.

“I was getting a bit nervous, I was so desperate to win. I was just trying so hard.

“The last thing you want to do is go home and sit on the couch. It was nerve-wracking but enjoyable.”

John Higgins faced Anthony Mcgill in an all-scots encounter last night.