UK Championship - Day six - Murphy and Williams into the last four

Another day at Telford, and another two quarter-finals ending 9-7.

The first saw Shaun Murphy beat world number one and world champion Neil Robertson, in a very high quality match.

It was even throughout, but maybe Shaun's run of the balls made the key difference.

You could also argue Robertson wasn't quite ready for this test. He's been playing great snooker this week, but after thrashing Rory McLeod in round one, and racing into a 7-0 lead over Andrew Higginson in the last 16, suddenly coming up against a player like Murphy, may have been too bigger step to make so soon.

I'm not making excuses for Robertson. He doesn't really need them, because he did enough to win the match in truth. But I just wonder what may have happened in this match if the Australian had been pushed all the way in the previous round, like Murphy was against Ryan Day.

That said, maybe Murphy was due this win, after twice being beaten by Robertson in meetings at the UK Championship. It may have just been a case of third time lucky.

Murphy will fancy his chances of going all the way in this tournament now. He's striking the ball sweetly and has shown in the past he's not afraid of the big stage. He's enjoying a fantastic season, proved when he topped the PTC Order of Merit, and now he'll have his eyes on a third UK title in two years.

He'll face Mark Williams in the next round, who ran out winner against the tournament's fairytale story, Mark Joyce.

The world number 60 won six matches to get to this stage of the tournament, and even had to miss his local club league match tonight to compete in the quarter-finals at Telford today.

He's played a good game of percentages all week. He didn't meet the best Ali Carter in the first round, but played very well to defeat Judd Trump in the last 16. He's looked calm on the television cameras, and at no point looked over-awed by the occasion, which bodes well for the future.

The difference in this match though, was Williams' ability to deliver when the pressure rose. At 4-0 up in the afternoon session, it looked as if the Weslhman would coast through the game, until Joyce won the next four to somehow level up.

Tonight, the momentum could easily have been in favour of Joyce, but Williams won the first frame, one he really needed to, to stop the rot. From there, he still struggled at times, but stepped his game up when it really mattered, and the finishing line became in sight.

It's fair to say Williams probably comes into the last four as the most out of form player. He hasn't quite hit his fluid best, like the other players. But, playing well under pressure has got him this far, and will be invaluable if he wants to win this competition. He'll have to improve to beat Murphy, but there's no reason why he can't.

For Joyce, this week has the best in his career without any doubt. Before, he was a relatively unknown quantity from Walsall. Now, everyone in snooker knows Mark Joyce. He'll be one qualifier no-one will want to draw.