Masters: Murphy to face Allen in Masters semi-finals despite max miss

Shaun Murphy missed the maximum break of 147 as he booked a Masters semi-final place with a dominant 6-2 win over Neil Robertson at Alexandra Palace.

Leading 5–2, Murphy knocked 15 reds and 15 blacks and reached 120 with only the colors, but eventually hid himself behind the blue and lost the chance.

It would have been a magical conclusion to an almost faultless performance from the 42-year-old Englishman, who will now play Mark Allen in the semi-finals on Saturday after the Northern Irishman beat Mark Selby 6-2.

Breaks of 81, 88 and 104 underlined a bright and fluent start to the match, but once Allen won a long and decisive fourth frame to prevent Selby from leveling at 2–2, he always looked the stronger .

Earlier, Murphy had compiled breaks of 90, 67 and 66 to establish a 4–1 lead over Robertson.

While two-time winner Robertson scored a brilliant century in the next, a run of 82 put Murphy ahead before sealing his victory.

“It was close to my best performance. I’m very pleased,” Murphy told BBC Sport.

“I couldn’t breathe (going for 147). I was very nervous. One of my goals for the season was to score the maximum score in a Triple Crown event and this was a good opportunity.

“It was exciting and would have been a nice gift because it’s my mom’s birthday.”