Murphy, Hendry stay on course in Group C

Shaun Murphy came back from 2-1 down against Stephen Maguire to chalk up his third victory in the group stages of the 2008 Malta Cup at the Hilton yesterday.

The holder has given himself every chance of being in the mix come the semi-final stage on Saturday as his 4-2 victory puts him in top spot in Group C.

From the same group, Stephen Hendry collected his second win of the tournament with a 4-2 win over crowd favourite Tony Drago.

Hendry took a 2-1 lead before asking his opponent if the cue ball could be changed.

"Every screw shot you played got a massive kick, so I said to Tony we have to change it and what a difference, the cushions stopped bouncing and every shot you played was perfect," said Hendry.

Although the next frame went Drago's way, Hendry won the final two frames with runs of 78 and 47 to secure victory.

"It's a good start, still got work to do. Certainly can't win it yet but you could put yourself out of it by now," the winner of four events in Malta told worldsnooker.com.

"It's a lovely place to come, the venue is superb and the people know their snooker. The timing of this event is fantastic, I think coming up to the Welsh, China and the world's it's great match practice," Hendry added.

Hendry plays Maguire this evening as the group stages begin to unravel.

Maguire won two of the first three frames against Murphy with runs of 73 and 80 but the latter has been in good form this week, relaxing in the luxurious setting of the Hilton and responded with a 104 and 61.

The final frame was fragmented, but Murphy finally secured the win with breaks of 18 and 17. His final match will be against Stephen Hendry tomorrow.

"I always enjoyed watching him as a kid and playing against him as a pro. In my last meeting with him in Belfast I beat him so I've got memories of that," Murphy said.

"Whatever the permutations of the round robin format I'll be looking to get to four before he does and hopefully be here at the weekend."

In Group D, Dominic Dale consolidated his position at the top of the standings after beating Peter Ebdon 4-2. The Welshman spent the first frame in his chair as Ebdon compiled a 128 to take the opener. Dale replied with a 73 before Ebdon regained the lead.

Dale followed that with a run of 65 before having to compose himself on a comfort break. In the next he made a 71 before claiming his win in the sixth. He now has a 3-0 record with one match to play against Ding Junhui today.

The group's other match featured two players who have been short on results. Graeme Dott was crowned world champion in 2006 and Williams has won the title twice but both have struggled of recent.

Dott suffered his second loss from his three matches to make it 10 losses in his last 11 matches.

"I'm playing nowhere near the standard of a professional player, I don't know what it is but I just hope I come out of it," he said.

Williams, who suffered an opening reverse to the resurgent Dale, knocked in breaks of 54, 51 and 54 to move 3-0 ahead. Dott gave himself a chance with a 53 but Williams, currently 33 in the provisional rankings, put the match out of reach with another 50 in frame five.

Dott had the consolation of making the match's highest break, a 93, in the remaining frame.

Results

Group A: Perry vs Borg 4-2; Higgins vs Carter 3-3.
Group B: Doherty vs Swail 5-1; Robertson vs Fu 3-3.
Group C: Hendry vs Drago 4-2; Murphy vs Maguire 4-2.
Group D: Dott vs Williams 2-4; Ebdon vs Dale 2-4.

Today's programme

Noon: Williams vs Ebdon; Ding vs Dale.
2 p.m.: Perry vs Carter; Day vs Borg.
6 p.m.: Robertson vs Swail; Lee vs Fu.
8 p.m.: Selby vs Drago; Hendry vs Maguire.