Embassy World Snooker Championship 2005 Part 4

Both semi-finals were finely balanced at 12-12. Firstly, world number 48 Shaun Murphy won the last five frames to beat Peter Ebdon. Then, in the match I attended, Matthew Stevens and Ian McCulloch went 13-13 and Stevens was on a 147 in the next until he lost position on the blue and missed. The final frame before the interval went to Stevens after McCulloch fouled on the final black. This was the turning point as Stevens ran out the eventual winner 17-14.

The final got off to a lacklustre start but the rest of the match more than made up for it. Murphy was 10-6 down overnight but dominated the afternoon session pulling level at 11-11. He went from strength to strength showing no nerves as he went on to complete an 18-16 victory. He is now ranked 21 for next season but qualifies automtically for all tournaments leaving poor Ian McCulloch ranked in the top 16 but needing to qualify for every event next season. That's the way the rankings go.