Shaun Murphy beat Mark Selby 6-5 in a thrilling opening match at the Dafabet Masters despite squandering a 5-1 lead yesterday.

Selby had previously won 11 out of 11 deciding frame matches at the Masters – and captured the title three times – but this time he was unable to complete a trademark fightback. The world champion faces an early trip back to Leicester after losing in the first round for only the second time at snooker’s biggest invitation event.

A near capacity crowd at the 1,700-seater Alexandra Palace were treated to an exciting contest which was eventually resolved when Murphy got the better of a tense 36-minute deciding frame.

The Manchester-based cueman goes through to a quarter-final tie with Stephen Maguire or Judd Trump.

Murphy needs the Masters to complete the Triple Crown, having won the World Championship in 2005 and the UK Championship in 2008.

Selby started strongly with a break of 100 but then lost focus as his opponent surged into a 5-1 lead with top breaks of 92, 55 and 56. The momentum then swung in Selby’s favour as he won the seventh frame in three scoring visits and the eighth with a run of 120.

Murphy had a clear chance in the next but missed the black when leading 44-12, and Selby’s cool 54 clearance made it 5-4. A run of 92 from Selby got him back on level terms.

The key moment of the decider came when Selby, trailing 23-12 with several reds in the open, missed the black off its spot. Murphy compiled a break of 40 which proved enough for victory.