Shaun Murphy beats John Higgins in thriller to reach another Crucible final
Murphy is one win away from his second world title – 21 years after his first.
news.stv.tvHere’s the latest on Shaun Murphy vs John Higgins:
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Recent result: Shaun Murphy defeated John Higgins 17-15 to reach the World Snooker Championship final at the Crucible Theatre. This ended Higgins’s semi-final challenge and put Murphy on the path to a possible second world title. [Source: reports from May 1–2, 2026 coverage][1][2]
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Context: Murphy trailed at various points but produced strong clears and breaks (including multiple centuries) to surge into the final phase and seal victory, while Higgins acknowledged Murphy’s high-quality display.[2][1]
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Next steps: Murphy will contest the World Championship final against the winner of the other semi-final between Mark Allen and Wu Yize. The match set up a potential rematch of Murphy’s 2005–2006 title run if he wins the final.[3][2]
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Additional notes: The Crucible semi-final and final weekends featured high drama, with earlier frames and session swings shaping Murphy’s comeback after trailing in the match.[2][3]
If you’d like, I can pull a concise live-style recap of the final with key breaks and frame-by-frame swing moments, or compile a quick head-to-head snapshot for Murphy vs Higgins across their last several meetings.