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Shaun Murphy fell just short of a 147 break as he defeated Neil Robertson to move into the Masters semi-finals at Alexandra Palace.
In the eighth frame, in which he completed a 6-2 victory, Murphy was on course for a maximum until he misjudged his shot as he potted the black to take his break to 120 and snookered himself on the yellow behind the blue.
The 42-year-old, who won the title in 2015 by beating Robertson in the final, said on BBC Two: “I couldn’t breathe! One of my targets for the season was to make a max in one of the triple crown events, and I was like ‘come on, this is a good chance, this is a good chance’. Anywhere but there, goodness me.
“It was exciting. The most important thing today was it would have been a great present – it’s my mum’s birthday today.”
Smiling as he put his head in his hands, he added: “What an idiot! Anywhere but there! I’d love to have another go at that one. I wouldn’t mind but I did that before once, years ago in the Welsh Open against Mark Williams. I did the same thing, exactly the same shot. You’d think I would have learned. I just couldn’t breathe. I was very nervous.”
Murphy also described his performance as “somewhere near my best” as he made breaks of 90, 67 and 66 en route to a 4-1 lead. Robertson, twice a Masters champion, replied with a 108 when taking frame six before Murphy made 82 and his almost-maximum as he wrapped up victory.
Robertson said: “I thought both of us looked absolutely fantastic out there. I think when two players are playing really well, it’s just smallest of margins one way or the other can be the difference, and that’s the way it was. I think you just have to take your hat off to Shaun with how well he played today.”
On the near-147, he said: “It’s such a bad shot, because even if he leaves himself a shot with the rest on the yellow, he’s so good with the rest that you’d fancy him potting it. I couldn’t believe it.
“It was a real shame for everyone watching, it would have been really nice to see the 147 here as well. So, gutted for Shaun from that point of view, but I’m sure he’ll be happy with the match.”
Murphy will face Mark Allen in the semi-finals on Saturday after the Northern Irishman completed a comfortable 6-2 victory over Mark Selby.
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Allen, who was briefly world No 1 at the end of last season but is now No 4 after a slow start to this campaign, showed he is hitting his best form, after he won the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, a non-ranking tournament that carries a first prize of £250,000, just before Christmas.
Selby had looked in almost unbeatable form when he defeated Ali Carter 6-1 in the first round but could not reproduce that standard, apart from a fine break of 88 in the second frame. Leading 4-1, Allen won the sixth frame on the black after a long tactical battle and while Selby got another on the board, the damage was done.
“I felt I played better than Mark but the luck definitely helped me,” Allen, who won the Masters in 2018, said. “It started out like a really good game, the first three frames it was three breaks and then it got a bit scrappy. We both missed a few shots but I can definitely say that is the most luck I have ever had in a match in a long time.
“It is the first time I have played Mark where I felt I was getting the better on the safety side. Any win over Mark is a great win but it was nice to do it that way because you normally have to score very well and win frames at one visit.”
Friday’s quarter-finals will feature Judd Trump and Ding Junhui going head-to-head in the afternoon session, before world champion Kyren Wilson faces Luca Brecel.
