Shaun Murphy shattered the teenage dreams of Luca Brecel as he survived a nerve-wracking quarter-final with snooker’s new young star at the UK Championship yesterday.

On more than one occasion Murphy looked a beaten man.

But 17-year-old Belgian Brecel twice faltered with the victory line in sight, missing crucial pinks in the 10th and 11th frames to allow the 2008 UK champion to pinch a 6-5 win.

Brecel had stepped up his level after scrappy wins over Ricky Walden and Mark King, but when it mattered most he was found wanting.

Murphy handed him a chance late in the decider and Brecel looked to be on a victory march.

But the youngster left the cue ball the wrong side of the blue, and once he sank that ball, he failed to pot the pink and it rolled kindly for Murphy who went on to close out the match.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.