Shaun Murphy in stunning form as three centuries sees him take control of Players Championship final with Ali Carter

Shaun Murphy will take a commanding 6-2 lead into the evening session of the Players Championship final against Ali Carter after dominating proceedings in the afternoon.

The contest pitted two of snooker’s most in-form players against one another, with Murphy reaching the final of the recent Welsh Open and Carter going one better to take the title at the German Masters.

And the play was of a high level right from the off, with Murphy firing in a long red that gave him the first look at the table.

But some nerves took over thereafter with both players missing makeable shots, only for Murphy to get far enough ahead and then lay a tricky snooker, which led to Carter conceding the frame.

So 1-0 for Murphy, and the Magician doubled his lead in the next with a sensational break of 145.

It was a clearance that contained some superb positional shots, as Murphy – with his seventh century of the week – demonstrated how well he was cueing.

Carter badly needed a foothold in the match, and he played some lovely stuff in frame three as he threatened to halve his arrears.

The pair were locked in a battle over the blue at 57-54 to Murphy, but when the Magician finally sunk it beautifully to the top corner pocket, it was instead 3-0 – and a very one-sided final, at least by scoreline.

Could Carter rescue the last frame before the mid-session interval and give himself something to cling onto?

He could, as he made hay from forcing a foul out of Murphy to compile a terrific 122 break, an outcome that saw the players leave the Aldersley Leisure Village arena with the score 3-1 to Murphy.

Carter would certainly have been keen to maintain his momentum at the resumption, but he wasn’t able to capitalise in the fifth when he had his chances.

The last of those opportunities came from a glaring Murphy miss on the pink, but Carter could only respond with a similarly poor shot that let his opponent back in.

And Murphy needed no second invitation, bagging a couple of balls before snookering Carter – forcing another concession.

The ding-dong nature of the contest continued however, as every time Murphy looked like romping away, back came Carter.

And frame six was no different as the Captain nailed a clutch red down the rail to put himself far enough in front to bring the score back to 4-2.

Anything Carter could do though, Murphy was there to respond and he racked up yet another century to once more extend his advantage back up to three frames.

Beginning with another sumptuous long red, Murphy then embarked on a fluent spree, slamming into the pack to free up the reds and ending with his eighth century – a 141 this time – of an increasingly impressive tournament.

Only one frame remained, but there was no coming back for Carter on this occasion as Murphy went back-to-back with another ton to take a 6-2 lead into the evening session – a break that saw the Magician make some history, with it being the most centuries ever made in one edition of the Players Championship.

It will take some comeback from Carter to stop Murphy in this form.

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