Murphy progresses to Malta semis

Murphy won all four of his games in the round-robin stage

Defending champion Shaun Murphy made it through to the Malta Cup semi-finals with a convincing 5-1 win over Stephen Hendry in their final group game.

Needing only to draw their six-frame match, Murphy took a 3-0 lead and closed out with breaks of 69 and 71.

Murphy will now face Ding Junhui in the last four after the Chinese star whitewashed Mark Williams 6-0.

Ken Doherty and world champion John Higgins will contest Saturday's other semi-final after topping their groups.

Higgins became the first player through to the last four of the invitational event with a comprehensive 5-1 win over Joe Perry.

The same score took Doherty past Australia's Neil Robertson in Portomaso.

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A delighted Murphy said: "I'm really chuffed to come through - four wins out of four is really good.

"It's great to be in the last four. Maybe this time I'll go further than a semi-final.

"I've got great memories of Malta and I seem to play well here. Who knows, I might get to take that trophy home again."