The Snooker Masters concluded its fifth day of competition, and upon waking up, the "Five Tigers" from the 80s have become "Three Tigers"! Murphy narrowly missed making the first maximum break of 147 in this event, while Robertson and Selby were eliminated. Tonight, two more tigers will engage in an internal battle, and Ding Junhui faces a life-or-death match, challenging world number one Trump to reach the quarter-finals.
In this Masters tournament, the "Five Tigers" from the 80s performed outstandingly, all breaking through the first round to meet in the top 8. After finishing two quarter-final matches, the five tigers became three, with two becoming runners-up. This season, Selby, who topped the England Open to unlock his 23rd ranking title and started the new year by directly qualifying for the winners' group of the Champions League, was beaten by Mark Allen's grinding skills and had no temper, scoring two breaks over 80 but ultimately losing 2-6 after being tied at 1-1.
Murphy's battle with Robertson also showed a one-sided dominance. The Magician completed a century break and four breaks over 60 throughout the match, overwhelming the Australian Cannon with a 6-2 victory. In the eighth frame, he made a full effort to achieve a 147 but failed, finishing with 15 reds and blacks for a score of 120 before missing during the clearance stage. Currently, the highest score in this event is still Zhang Anda's 141 points.
At 21:00 tonight, Ding Junhui faces a life-or-death battle against Trump for a spot in the quarter-finals. In their past 20 encounters, Ding has 9 wins and 11 losses against the world number one. Last year, he suffered consecutive defeats at the World Open and the Champion of Champions, but in the new year, he defeated Trump in two exhibition matches in Hangzhou and Lhasa. Can the sole Chinese player pull off an upset and continue his push into the quarter-finals? Stay tuned!