Shaun Murphy’s impressive form continues unstopped at the Shanghai Masters after battering Mark Allen 10-3 in a humiliating encounter in the first leg of the semi-final on Friday.

The Magician was in fine fettle against the Pistol, making eight half-centuries and finishing off the match with a 104 in a totally dominant performance.

Allen actually won the opening frame of the contest, but that was as good as it got for the Northern Irishman, with Murphy eventually reeling off six frames on the spin to book his place in the final.

The Englishman was nearly ousted in the second round by Mark Williams, with that contest going down to a deciding frame, but otherwise, it has been a serene trip to the final for the 37-year-old.

The impressive run in Shanghai makes it the second consecutive finals for Murphy after he made it to the showpiece of the International Championship in Dating last month.

The 2005 World Champ really struggled for form last season but appears to have past that struggle and now has set his eyes on the top prize, a whopping 200,000 pounds ahead of Sunday’s final.

‘It just shows you how mad sport is,’Murphy told World Snooker. ‘Especially the sports that you play on your own.

‘I haven’t really done that much different to last season. It is probably just those six inches between my ears.

‘I thought it was a good game today. I was a little bit lucky at times, any little bit of luck that could have gone either way, went to me. Maybe the scoreline doesn’t reflect how the match was, but I am thrilled to be in the final.’

The winner of the contest between the Rocket and the Thunder from Down Under will likely go into the final as the favourite with the bookmakers, but Murphy will be confident of grabbing his first title since he won Champion of Champions back in 2017.

Murphy is definitely enjoying his best-ever run in Shanghai, having never made it to the finals before.

He will take on either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Neil Robertson in that final, depending on who comes out victorious in their semi-final session.

Written by: Imisa Aruorihwo.