Snooker results: Luca Brecel beats Yuan Sijun 6-4 at UK Championship; Shaun Murphy knocked out

Brecel reached the final of the Shanghai Masters in September, but has otherwise found results hard to come by since his Crucible triumph back in the spring, and is now keen to enjoy a deep run in another of the Triple Crown events.

“I didn’t go lazy, but I just didn’t feel that hunger or motivation going from tournament to tournament,” said Brecel.

“I don’t like that feeling and I had to change something. I wasn’t feeling any pressure any more. I was just playing and if I lost I was happy to be home. It’s not a good mindset to have.

“If you feel like that it’s impossible to change, but in the last few weeks I’ve been tired of losing in early rounds and I want to have that hunger to go deep again in tournaments.”

An assured start from Yuan allowed him to build an early lead, but Brecel soon slipped into gear with the aid of twin century breaks, moving 4-2 and appearing set for a leisurely afternoon.

However, an easy miss to the middle pocket stopped Brecel in his tracks and things became much harder work thereafter, Yuan digging in to draw to level at 4-4.

Order was restored when Brecel hit back with a typically silky run of 86, and he eventually put the match to bed when winning a protracted frame 10.

Runner-up in this event two years ago, Brecel must repeat the feat in order to stand any chance of reaching world number one in the rankings, but he conceded that task alone does not provide the boost he needs to buckle down:

Brecel added: “I’m still young and I feel like one day I’m going to get to number one anyway.

“I’ve been one match away and one frame away from world number one. I think my best chance was going to the Wuhan Open and I didn’t, so that shows you how much it keeps me busy.

“But it would be nice to tick it off, I’m not going to lie.”

More decider drama on opening weekend

Following the three deciding frame finishes that took place on Saturday, Zhang Anda and Elliot Slessor joined the list in another bruising encounter at the Barbican Centre.

Despite slipping 5-4 behind, it was Zhang who held his nerve to prevail, dominating a low-scoring final frame to book his place in the last 16.

Zhang has enjoyed a breakthrough season already, reaching the final of the English Open and then going one better at the International Championship, and he will play Brecel next for a place in the quarter-finals.

More big names fail to fire

The start of Sunday’s evening session was delayed by an hour after a small fire was discovered in the venue foyer, prompting an evacuation by the fire brigade.

When play finally got under way, it was 2008 champion Shaun Murphy who felt the heat as he was beaten 6-4 by Iran’s Hossein Vafaei in a match that ticked just beyond midnight.

The pair were locked together at the mid-session interval, sharing the first four frames after Vafaei had made the early running to lead 2-0.

Breaks of 52 and 100 then allowed Vafaei to restore his two-frame advantage and though Murphy pegged him back by taking the following frame, Vafaei was able to keep his opponent at arms length thereafter.

A break of 78 saw world Vafaei move within touching distance of victory and after Murphy had kept his hopes alive by winning frame nine, Vafaei wrapped up proceedings with a break 67.

Vafaei told World Snooker Tour afterwards: “To be honest with you, I will take that but I didn’t play really well. The most important thing for me is that I am still in the tournament and I’m in the next round.

"The match went a little bit slow. I managed to win and got a century. I am quite happy."

Vafaei will face Matthew Selt in the last 16 after he beat Ali Carter 6-3.

Selt put together breaks of 111, 102 and 73 on his way to an ultimately convincing victory which was secured as he won five of the last six frames played.

Schedule & results

Sunday November 26
Afternoon session (1300 GMT)

• Zhang Anda 6-5 Elliot Slessor
• Luca Brecel 6-4 Yuan Sijun

Evening session (1900 GMT)

• Shaun Murphy 4-6 Hossein Vafaei
• Ali Carter 3-6 Matt Selt