Northern Ireland Open 2024: Kyren Wilson ‘took control’ against Stan Moody; Shaun Murphy edges Stuart Bingham

World Champion Kyren Wilson felt he “took control early” in his 4-1 victory over Stan Moody at the Northern Ireland Open, as he seized upon the 18-year-old’s inexperience to seal passage to the quarter-final.

Moody entertained the Belfast crowd and gave Wilson a competitive game at the Waterfront Hall, but was punished for an attacking shot selection which left windows of opportunity for The Warrior to showcase his undoubted quality.

“I think obviously Stan is still learning and it’s very tough on table one compared to the outside table,” Wilson told Eurosport. “It’s something I’ve had to learn the hard way.”

“Obviously, in these best-of-sevens you want to get off to a fast start. Stan let me in quite comfortably, which looked like it was going to be a close maximum call. I got my arm going and took control early.”

An early break of 91 set Wilson on his way to a blistering opening frame, after Moody left the door open with his failure to sink a long red down the right rail.

The World Champion moved around the baize with ease to sink 10 blacks, a pink and a green but was left just short of the century after he went a red crashing off the near jaw of middle left.

Moody sent in a superb red at the start of the second frame, but was punished for some poor luck from the ricochet as Wilson looked to take advantage, but immediately off a long red he left himself with no chance of a colour, so opted for safety.

Though another Moody mistake allowed Wilson to further his advantage, adding 40 in a run which saw him fluke two reds at the same time, he spurned one to the left corner as Moody looked to breathe life into the frame.

The 18-year-old went on to stun the Belfast crowd with a remarkable double off a red on the left cushion to middle right. He then put together his first run of the match, but fell short on a pink to the left corner.

A competitive safety battle ensued between the pair until Wilson fouled, sending the cue ball into the right corner after sinking the final red into the same pocket. Moody, however, did not capitalise as his attempted blue to middle opened the table for Wilson to wrap up the frame.

The World Champion charged into a 43-point lead in the third, but Moody’s exciting attacking play saw him push back with an impressive run of 45. A routine-looking red to the right corner, however, proved his undoing and gave Wilson another chance to further his lead.

And he did just that, clearing with a run of 33 to go within a frame of victory.

Moody was visibly frustrated with his display, but put in a staunch fourth frame with the help of a huge slice of luck. The youngster put together a decent run to pot pink and blue before an attempted red to middle left came flying off the near jaw and sailed to kiss off a perfectly placed yellow at top left and in.

The fluke sent him on to his best run of the match so far, bringing up a half century before firing two further blues and leaving Wilson needing snookers. Wilson could only pot one of the three remaining reds before fouling, with Moody cutting the world No. 2’s lead to 3-1.

And Wilson eventually sealed the victory in the fifth, keeping Moody subdued with multiple snookers and picking him off without establishing a sizeable break.

It was an afternoon which perhaps highlighted the vast disparity in experience between the two, and Wilson told Eurosport after the match about his early education.

“I was very lucky, I had Peter Ebdon I was practicing with regularly,” he said. “Obviously one of the game’s elite, just learning off him day in day out, so I learned the shot selection quite quickly.

“Not everybody is that lucky to have that luxury and you have to try and learn as you’re on the job almost. But you get a few good hidings off the top professionals you soon learn quickly.”

Former World Champion Mark Williams is next in wait for current world title holder Wilson in the quarter-final, after the Welshman downed Ma Hailong 4-2 on Thursday.

Shaun Murphy admitted it took “two massive pieces of luck” to produce a fantastic 4-3 comeback victory over Stuart Bingham in the Northern Ireland Open on Thursday.

Murphy sealed his passage to the quarter-final despite at one point being 3-1 down to Bingham. The Magician, however, rallied once again in Belfast to level the scoring at 3-3 and ride out a couple of attempts from his opponent to seal the match before eventually clearing the table.

“I’m a bit shaky actually,” Murphy told Eurosport. “It was a good clearance in the end, I have to say.

“But I had two massive pieces of luck in that frame I thought. When I missed the black off the side cushion where I had to swerve around the blue, the spin took me on the cushion.

“I’ve missed the black, didn’t get on the next red. Had I done, Stuart would have stepped in and won.

“Later on, I missed a red onto the green pocket with the rest, I missed one with the rest – shock horror – but I covered it.

“There were two massive pieces of luck there. Yes the clearance was good but the bit of luck there got me out of jail.”

In a scintillating start to the contest, the pair shared centuries in the opening two frames. Murphy got 13 reds and blacks into a maximum before missing a tricky cut to the middle and Bingham responded with a superb 121 to level at 1-1.

Both missed chances in the next, but it was Bingham who took it, and ‘Ball-run’ got within one of victory at 3-1 with another century in the fourth frame.

Murphy displayed all his battling qualities to get back into the contest, though, firing breaks of 56 and 52 to set up a thrilling decider.

Bingham had the first chance and put himself on the verge of victory with a break of 60, but he was made to pay for failing to kill the frame off in one visit.

Murphy needed a couple of opportunities but produced a superb clutch clearance to advance into the quarter-finals.

A tough test could be in store for The Magician, who is set to face either Judd Trump or Barry Hawkins in the last eight.