Shaun Murphy Beats Zhao Xintong 13-10 to Reach World Championship Semi-Final Against John Higgins

Shaun Murphy eliminated defending champion Zhao Xintong 13-10 in their World Snooker Championship quarter-final at the Crucible on Wednesday, ending the Chinese player's bid to become the first first-time world champion to successfully defend the title since the tournament moved to Sheffield in 1977. Later the same evening, John Higgins beat Neil Robertson 13-10 to set up a semi-final against Murphy scheduled to begin at 13:00 BST on Thursday.

The Details

Murphy and Zhao resumed their quarter-final for the decisive third session level at 8-8 after Zhao had fought back from 8-6 down to level the match on Tuesday night, according to The Guardian. Any momentum Zhao had carried into Wednesday was quickly dismantled by Murphy, who moved ahead 9-8 with a 96 break, then reeled off the next three frames with breaks of 80 and 70 before sealing the match with a 69 in frame 23, BBC Sport reported.

The final session went to Murphy 5-2, completing a 13-10 victory that sends him into the last four at the Crucible for the sixth time. Murphy had already dispatched Fan Zhengyi and Xiao Guodong in earlier rounds before accounting for the defending champion, according to Metro.

"It is one of the best wins of my career," Murphy told BBC Sport after the match. For the 43-year-old Englishman, who won his only world title in 2005, the victory marks another step toward a second championship at Sheffield — a goal he has made no secret of pursuing.

Zhao, 29, was gracious in defeat. "Shaun played really well and put me under big pressure," the Chinese player told BBC Sport. "He played perfect snooker and deserves his win." Zhao had become Asia's first world champion when he claimed the title in 2025, and his exit in the quarter-finals means no first-time Crucible champion has yet successfully defended the title in the tournament's Sheffield era.

Speaking to Metro about whether a defending champion could ever reverse that trend, Murphy was blunt: "I don't think the Crucible curse will ever be broken."

Wednesday's action at the Crucible did not end with Murphy's win. John Higgins completed a 13-10 victory over Neil Robertson later on Wednesday to set up the semi-final against Murphy, BBC Sport Live reported. Higgins, 50, reached his 12th world semi-final at Sheffield in the process and became the oldest player to make the last four at the Crucible since Ray Reardon achieved the same feat in 1985, according to BBC Sport.

The semi-final between Murphy and Higgins is scheduled to begin at 13:00 BST on Thursday at the Crucible, confirmed by both BBC Sport Live and Sky Sports' championship schedule.

Context

Murphy's route to the semi-finals has been built on consistency across the draw. Victories over Fan Zhengyi, Xiao Guodong and now Zhao Xintong, as Metro reported, represent three successive wins against players who each posed different challenges at the Crucible. Wednesday's final-session surge — taking five of seven frames after entering the session level — underlines how decisive Murphy's form was when it mattered, given that Zhao had levelled from 8-6 down the previous evening, as The Guardian reported.

Zhao's departure is historically significant. Since the World Championship moved to the Crucible in 1977, no first-time world champion has returned to defend the title successfully, according to BBC Sport. Zhao, who won his first world title in 2025, had represented the clearest opportunity in years to end that sequence. Murphy's performance in the concluding session ensured it remains intact.

Higgins, meanwhile, arrives at his 12th Crucible semi-final as the oldest player to reach the last four there since Ray Reardon in 1985, BBC Sport reported. The four-time world champion's 13-10 win over Neil Robertson — completed later on Wednesday night — adds a further dimension to Thursday's match. Murphy, targeting a second world title more than two decades after his first, faces one of the most experienced players the tournament has produced.

What's Next

Murphy and Higgins begin their World Championship semi-final at the Crucible at 13:00 BST on Thursday, April 30, as confirmed by BBC Sport Live and independently corroborated by Sky Sports' published championship schedule. The match is a best-of-33 frames contest.

Murphy has said matching his 2005 world title is a personal mission, according to BBC Sport. A win over Higgins would put him in the final at Sheffield for the first time in his career at this stage of his quest for a second title. Higgins, who has won the world championship four times, brings the deepest semi-final record of any active player in the draw.