Ruthless Murphy crushes feeble Fu

Former champion Shaun Murphy shrugged off his off-table issues to seal a crushing 13-3 second-round win over Marco Fu at The Crucible.

Murphy, who resumed with the luxury of a 7-1 lead, was in complete control against an outgunned Fu, and sealed victory with a session to spare.

Two-time former champion John Higgins was level at 4-4 with Jamie Cope at the end of Saturday's evening session.

Higgins began confidently but lost his way as Cope fought back for parity.

Earlier, Fu had started superbly with a 129 break, but Murphy replied with a century of his own to reassert his authority.

And it was almost one-way traffic from then on, as Murphy sealed victory.

Murphy is having to contend with the prospect of his wife serving divorce papers during the tournament, while some sections of the crowd have taken to booing him.

But the 26-year-old seemed fully focused on his snooker as he swept into the quarter-finals, where he will face seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry, with ease.

Fu, a Crucible semi-finalist in 2006, never got going and seemed resigned to defeat as Murphy cruised over the horizon with something to spare.

Read in full at the BBC