Shaun Murphy survives scare against snooker wonderkid 'better than Ronnie O'Sullivan' - The Mirror

Shaun Murphy took on 14-year-old Wang Xinzhong in the International Championship in Nanjing, China and the former world champion won the match via a final frame decider

Masters and British Open Champion Shaun Murphy narrowly avoided a major shock in the second round of the International Championship in Nanjing. He came through a final frame decider to overcome 14-year-old qualifier Wang Xinzhong.

The teenager had already caught the eye by beating women's world champions Bai Yulu and the experienced Robbie Williams to book his place in the stage of the competition. The teenage sensation's win against Yulu came despite his opponent making the highest ever break by a woman in a ranking event with a 145.

Wang also sent a clear message in his first round win against Williams. He brushed the Englishman aside with a 6-1 victory to book a place in the second round.

Murphy went into the match as the clear favourite, and quickly took the opening three frames. However, Wang won five of the next six frames to take the score to 5-4 and one frame away from causing a major upset.

In the end, breaks of 72 and 89 saw Murphy book his place in the last 32, where he will face Elliot Selssor. Following the match, Murphy couldn’t hide his admiration for his teenage opponent and predicted big things for the youngster.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,’ Murphy told World Snooker Tour. “I was good at 14. Ronnie [O’Sullivan] was good at 14, as were many others. I think that young man may well be the best 14-year-old I’ve ever seen.

“He has everything. I kept waiting for him to crack but he played like someone who has 20 titles and doesn’t have a care in the world. I think I’ve just seen the future of snooker. Unbelievable.

“I turned professional at 15 so I knew you couldn’t take any liberties with anybody. Especially someone who has beaten the women’s world champion and Robbie Williams.

“I missed two or three balls of any consequence in the whole match. I somehow found myself 5-4 down against someone playing snooker from the gods.”

Elsewhere in the tournament, O’Sullivan booked his place by beating Sanderson Lam 6-2. He will now face Jack Lisowski in the next round. Amongst others to make it through are Judd Trump, Zhao Xintong, Ding Junhui, John Higgins, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby.

Trump beat Matthew Stevens 6-3, Xintong beat Fan Zhengyi 6-3. Meanwhile Junhui, who is defending champion, beat Michael Holt 6-1, with Higgins recording a 6-2 win over Oliver Lines.