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MURPHY BOOKS DAQING SPOT

Shaun Murphy scored a much-needed 6-4 win over Riley Parsons on the first day of the International Championship qualifiers.

All winners over the next four days in Sheffield go through to the last 64 in Daqing, China, with the final stages running from August 4-11.

Murphy lost to Zhang Anda in the Kaspersky Riga Masters qualifiers on Thursday but bounced back on Friday in a tough match against tour rookie Parsons.

From 3-2 down, former World Champion Murphy won three frames in a row with breaks of 86, 57 and 61. Parsons pulled one back with a 78 clearance before Murphy sealed victory by taking frame ten on the colours.

Three-time Crucible king Mark Selby was in superb form in a 6-1 win over Sam Baird, firing runs of 74, 84, 59, 72, 61, 134 and 124.

Louis Heathcote made it two wins out of two so far in his first pro season by beating Noppon Saengkham 6-4.

Heathcote knocked Ryan Day out of the Riga event earlier in the week and today got the better of another player ranked inside the world’s top 40. From 4-3 down against Saengkham, he took the last three frames with runs of 77, 103 and 78.

Shoot Out champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh top scored with 75 in a 6-3 win over Rod Lawler while Indian Open winner Matthew Selt saw off Lee Walker 6-1 with a top runs of 61, 68 and 83.

Alan McManus edged out Andy Hicks 6-5 while Peter Ebdon beat Soheil Vahedi 6-5 with a break of 80 in the decider.


Source: World Snooker