John Higgins praises Shaun Murphy after World Championship semi-final loss - 'He just hits it like God'

John Higgins paid tribute to Shaun Murphy following their epic World Championship semi-final, saying the Magician "played like God” in the final session of the match.

Higgins and Murphy traded blows for the first three sessions, after which the former held a 13-11 lead.

Murphy came out at a rate of knots at the Crucible in Sheffield on Saturday afternoon, winning the first two frames with breaks of 133 and 127.

Higgins hit back to lead, but Murphy ran through the final four frames to secure a 17-15 win and his spot in a first World Championship final since 2021.

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Alan McManus and Jimmy White were full of praise for Murphy in the TNT Sports studio, and Higgins was equally positive, albeit he lamented a missed black of his own in the final frame when on a break of 50.

"My shot on the black in the frame at the end, that was very weak,” Higgins said. ”I know the pressure was on, but when you look at the final session, Shaun was punching and really going for it. I got lost a little bit towards the end there.

"I shouldn't have been below that black. It was criminal the way I played the shot. But the way Shaun hit the ball in that last session - you cannot hit it better than that. It was incredible, it really was. 

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Video credit: TNT Sports

”He just hits it like God. I am disappointed, but what can you do?"

”I am disappointed with the way I missed the final black,” Higgins told TNT Sports. ”I did not play it positively, I tried to steer it in, and that’s no way to play a snooker shot.

”I thought Shaun was absolutely fantastic throughout the final session, throughout the whole game I thought he hit the ball just like a dream.”

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White was impressed with the start Murphy made to the final session, describing it as ”perfect snooker.”

”It was amazing,” White said of Murphy's back-to-back centuries. ”Shaun Murphy has come out and made two centuries, played absolutely perfect snooker.

”Those first two frames were perfect snooker, he did not put a foot wrong. Century and then another century.

”John will be disappointed he has gone out on a poor safety shot, but take nothing away from Murphy, he was consistent, focused and played some great stuff.”

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Video credit: TNT Sports

McManus said the key to the match was how Murphy was able to withstand every blow Higgins threw at him.

”John asked Shaun a major question and Shaun answered it and more,” McManus said. "He was sensational, five tons all told. 

”We teed it up at the start of today that he would have to bring his A game otherwise it would not be enough, and it was his A game.”

Murphy will face the winner of the second semi-final between Wu Yize and Mark Allen, who will play to a finish on Saturday evening.

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