Si Jiahui is back to trouble Shaun Murphy in Crucible final-frame upset World Snooker Championship

World number 80 Si Jiahui got the better of Shaun Murphy in a late night thriller at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield. Si held his composure brilliantly to win a tense deciding frame to pull off the biggest upset of the tournament in the most thrilling match ever.

World No. 4 Murphy saw off the 20-year-old Chinese 5-4 after their first session on Wednesday after winning the Players Championship and Tour Championship in the run-up to the Crucible. Si continued his fine form on Thursday evening to extend his lead to 7-5 and then to 9-7. But Murphy did his best under unfavorable conditions, making a break of 120 to take the match to a deciding frame.

Si maintained his composure to make a 56 in the final frame, only breaking when splitting the pack after potting the blue and seeing a red safe when it looked like it might stay on the corner pocket. C took a risky pink in the middle after potting a long red to let Murphy in but could not capitalize.

After a tense safety exchange, C came out on top after Murphy missed the red three times in a row while trying to avoid a snooker. The Crucible debutant pulled off a dramatic win in style, and will face Robert Milkins in the last 16.

C has become a curse for Murphy, who was forced to apologize to his rival after his first round exit against China at the 2021 UK Championships. Murphy had suggested that the novices should not participate and complained that C “shouldn’t even be in the building”.

The rant caused an uproar and Murphy later said he regretted the timing of his outburst but said he stood by his stand. Si is now a professional, and after Thursday’s epic first-round fight Murphy was full of praise for his opponent.

Shaun Murphy arrived in Sheffield as one of the tournament favourites, after a strong season so far. Photograph: George Wood/Getty Images

“Nothing but credit to him. I’ve played worse [here] and won. I thought we did a great job; I just lost I wish him nothing but the best,” Murphy said.

“I made a few mistakes but I must commend him, he was brilliant. I’ve had a great season, probably my best ever, and I came here full of confidence, really hoping for better than the first round loss. But I’m proud of how I performed, I never gave up – and in a crucial situation, it could have gone either way.

The result came after Judd Trump’s defeat by Anthony McGill on Wednesday. Trump was the No. 5 seed and was scheduled to meet Murphy in the quarterfinals, so it throws that side of the draw wide open, with McGill facing Jack Lisowski.

Earlier, robert milkins made a memorable comeback by defeating joe perry 10–9 in their delayed first round clash.

Milkins’ match against Perry was disrupted on Monday when a man wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt jumped on table one and poured orange powder onto the cloth.

Monday night’s match crowd were given free tickets by event organizers for Thursday’s unscheduled morning session at the Crucible, and saw Milkins defy the odds to reach the last 16.

Robert Milkins made an impressive comeback from 7–2 down to beat Joe Perry 10–9. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

Perry began the morning session which began at 9.30 am – the earliest start for a World Championship match – to lead 7–2 in the best-of-19 tie. However, Milkins, who won the Welsh Open in February and is seeded 13th, took the opening two frames of the session to move within three frames of his opponent.

Perry responded by winning only the next frame, in which Milkins immediately moved to within three frames again to hit back, and reduce Perry’s lead to two after the former semi-finalist missed a simple brown. Perry fouled his lines while potting a red in the middle pocket as Milkins went just one behind, and then drew level to set up a three-frame shootout.

Milkins took the next frame to put him on the brink of glory before Perry made a 63 and took the match to a decider. But Milkins showed his guts to secure the final frame and seal a memorable fight.

mark selby saw a scheduled challenge from the qualifiers Matthew Selt The four-time champion began his bid for a fifth crown with a hard-fought 10-8 win. Selby led 6–3 overnight before going 8–4 on Thursday afternoon, but Celt refused to back down in a battle that weakened rapidly.

But Selby, winner of the event in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021, won with a score of 9–8 with a break of 112 and set up a clash with Gary Wilson in the second round.

Elsewhere, three-time champion mark williams and qualifiers Luca Brecel After the first session of their second round match all scores were tied at 4–4. mark allen Leadership Stuart Bingham 5-3 after their session on Thursday evening.