Final frames | Shaun Murphy vs Jack Lisowski | 2023 British Open R2

Yeah, if anyone's got any complaints about the draw, I'm going to blame Martin Clarke, our tournament director, this week because it was he who gave the bag of balls a good shuggle, as we say in Scotland, before we did the draw. But yeah, always throws up. The cue ball again has run on and he's sort of wondering how. Got to avoid a ball colour with this cue ball. Yeah, that was clever playing it figure of eight. For the first time in the match, Jack's on the back foot. Well, if anyone ever says these pockets are big, just have a look at that one. Barely brushed the cushion. Barely brushed it. The red's not absolutely over the pocket. You've got to get the left half of it, as you can see there. Contact on the right half as we see it. It probably won't go. Oh, that's wonderful. That is a brilliant shot. I mean, that is supreme accuracy. If it is the case that he's the standard the top players are capable of these days, they can play for them. They can play terribly. Two, three, four centuries in a match. No trouble at all. 22, 23, 30. Sean certainly falls into that category. This is breakfast, lunch and dinner, these type of chances, regardless of form. The scoring is the hallmark of everything they do. That's why they've had the success they have had. Another highly focused contribution, this. Jack Lazowski now needs a snooker, otherwise he'll be 3-2 down. 60, 66, 67, 74, 75, 82, 83, 90, 97, 99. So a real turnaround tonight. Lazowski was looking good at 2-0. Murphy had missed the boat in that frame, remember, with the chance for the clearance. Things have turned around. Second century of the evening for Murphy, third in the match in total. So Lazowski with it all to do to force a decider. Battle through last night though, didn't he, against Joe O'Connor. 111. What a beautiful shot. Get on the pink, which he there misses. Another great break from Sean Murphy. Another 111 from the former world champ. Might not look that happy, he should be. He leads 3-2. Another Lazowski force, another decider. We had a few on this table. The match not slipping away, but Sean just getting the best of it. Got to get the pot here. Missed one earlier like this. Yeah, it's not bad. For this is a shot snooker players don't enjoy all that much. He showed it last night, he's going to have to show it again, but we know he's got the goods. That's the other thing, time's gone by, the old question mark over Jack's, not ability, but his mental fortitude to hang in there. Good as well, just, he probably will play the blue, I would imagine. You've got three options, yellow's I suppose is the easier pots of percentage wise, it's the play. The blue offer better position, just about okay. Something he's improved so much on is what he doesn't do. And what I mean by that is, he doesn't rush in, that last shot on the red, there were two or three ways he could have played it, but he took about 30 or 40 seconds to make his mind up. Pulls rush in and all that. He doesn't do that anymore. And what it does is it turns a 40 break into 70 or 80 when you make the correct decision. Of course that by definition going to win more frames in one visit. So barring a slip up by going all the way in a high quality end to proceedings on table one. Ah, lovely stuff. 71, 78, 79. There you go, 50-50 for table time and it's a bit of a toss of a coin, isn't it, as to who's going to win now. It's flowing, attacking, big breaks. 87. It could come down to who gets the first chance, maybe the only chance in the decider. 95. For a turn you can see Murphy looking with a bit of a grin on his face, as if to say he didn't realise the game was so easy. He just sat watching it. But also, yeah, there he is, impressed, but also having to get ready for the decider. Oh, that was fabulous stuff, wasn't it? 101 from Jack Wazowski. Murphy's smiling at the moment. Will he be smiling though at the end of the night? We'll find out in the next frame. The decider coming in. A match full of big breaks. Attacking snooker there for handshake. Wazowski the break. They've each had two centuries. Don't be surprised if there's another one. But who's going to be? Of course, deciders can be a very different story. You know, you don't be surprised if it becomes a bit edgy. Yeah, this shot was a feature of the George Trump-Hamid-Mia game this afternoon. They left him pretty much every frame. In it goes, as is the way these days. That's one of those feel-good shots. It sort of tells you, as a player, that you're timing it well. His bottle is as good as anyone. He never ever flinches away from the big shots and the big moments. He's been all business this visit so far. So he's after the cannon, or is he just playing for the more tricky red? It's a nice shape of pack. He doesn't have to go with lots of pace. He's going deep. The cue ball back towards him. He could lose it. Just about okay. 21. That's superb. All about his bottle. Now, what a performance this is to A, hang in the match, and B, now a chance to sprint towards the winning line. Lots to do, yes, but all within his capability, as we know. 34, 35, 40. Top side of the blue. They're a really nice target. Got to grab the cue ball. You've got to get it spinning. Must get top side of it. And again, it's good thinking, because he overplayed it, knowing that yellow come to the rescue. And because the bed of the cloth is being slidy this week, he doesn't need full pace. They should separate. There you go, and he's on one. That'll do. As Askey, hoping that something's going to go wrong soon, broke off in this frame, left that long red on. I mean, he's played so well tonight, but this is how hard it is to win a tournament. You come up against performances like this. Not quite. Half an inch short of almost being certain to win. Still got to play another good shot. Middish distance red, so it requires a top piece of cueing this. And that was a joy, actually. Again. A couple of shots ago was a joy. That was a gem of a positional shot. Almost there. Red, black, red. 55. What a terrific contest. Got to feel for Lazarski, unless there's a light twist. 60. He's not on it. Certainly he isn't on it direct. Whether he can play it with lots of left-hand side to square up, I don't know, but it's probably not the time or the place to play that shot. There you have it. He's definitely not on it. Yeah, is he thinking here of thin off a red and push the black on the cushion? Yeah, that's what he's playing. But Jack is still in there. That's the key thing, and he probably shouldn't be. Yeah, not over yet. It could yet be a very dramatic finish. Had he made a century there, it would have been a record in the televised best of seven, five centuries in a match. Not to be. Even if you play the safety, you're bound to leave something at distance. Bound to leave something. Yeah, it would be difficult, but it's one of those that he's pretty much forcing Jack's hand to have a last throw of the dice. And saying that, pretty much dead straight, which is no good to him. But he's fast running out of time and options. Ah, Sean, well done, because he's tapping his shoulder three or four times there when that red disappeared. If this black disappears, boy, oh boy, we might have a new favourite, but what a horrible shot this one is. Well, this is the hottest of hot shots, isn't it? But as you say, the black's got to go, otherwise he needs a snooker. There's Murphy applauding. Great sportsmanship. Big, big shot, this. That is maybe the two best shots in a row I have seen in many a year. Oh, what a putt that was. Well, it looked over. He must have thought it was sat in his seat. The chance has come. Can he take the match out and win in the most dramatic fashion again? Let's ask you, that horrible red that he knocked in, brilliant black as well. Just having a look at this, I don't think he wants to take pink off this next red, because it would tie the pink up, because it would go right against the red, the other one. So he's got to play on black here. No major issue. Yes, sweetly done. Now, Murphy's got kind of a look of resignation about him as he looks on. 30. That red and black were from the gods. 31. He takes a special talent to pop balls like that. It's up to him. There it is, 26 behind to pinch it by a single point then. 38. I'm not going to say the clearance of all clearances, but that red and black, boy, oh boy, what is going on? 41. 45. 50. Oh, what an incredible contest. The big breaks have flowed. The drama has come at the death. 56. Black for victory. I'll tell you what, if you ever doubt Jack Dazowski's nerve, watch that crying back. Watch how he won that match. Two extraordinary putts to force his way in, and then a nerveless clearance. What a win that is. What a match between the two of them. They both played superbly. We're going to hear from the winner after the break. Jack Dazowski has beaten Sean Murphy 4-3 in an absolute classic.