Shaun Murphy shrugs off sloppy start to see off Kurt Maflin and book his place in last-16 of German Masters

Shaun Murphy overcame a poor start to claim a 5-4 win over Kurt Maflin at the German Masters. The 39-year-old has had a tough time this season, with poor form not being helped by having to combat a back complaint. Ad/> He arrived at the Tempodrom fighting for ranking points to secure his spot at the Players Championship, while he is also keen to win an event named in honour of his great friend Brandon Parker who passed away in 2020.

Things did not look good early on as he fell two frames behind, but he took confidence from his opponent’s struggles to advance to the last-16. German MastersSelby and Allen safely through but Highfield sent home5 HOURS AGO O'Sullivan to miss Turkish Masters, but who does Trump face at inaugural ranking event? How Berlin inspired Rocket's remarkable rebirth An opening frame littered with errors eventually went Maflin’s way via a slice of good fortune. Murphy, despite looking way short of his best, battled his way back into the frame and appeared to have it in the bag after potting a brilliant pink and bringing the white round the angles for the black.

But he went back to his chair after seeing the cue ball drop into the right middle, and Maflin knocked in the re-spotted pink. A break of 54 gave Maflin control of the second, and he fed off scraps to fall over the line after Murphy continued to miss presentable chances. After two frames of, by his own standards, poor snooker — Murphy crunched in a long red at the start of the third and a break of 74 secured him a foothold in the contest.