Shaun Murphy continued in the form which had seem him produce one of the greatest comebacks in the 888.com World Championships as he opened up an early lead in the semi-final with qualifier Mark Selby.

Murphy had come from 12-7 down to defeat Matthew Stevens in the previous round and he won four of the opening five frames against Selby.

The Rotherham player was an odds-on favourite with bookmakers Ladbrokes to reach the final with Selby rated at 13-8 to go through in the best-of-33 frame contest.

Murphy had runs of 39 and 38 to open his account and a break of 70 in the next doubled the advantage of Murphy, who two years ago had become the lowest ranked player at 48 to win snooker's greatest prize.

Selby, at 23 the youngest player left in the tournament, was taking time to adjust to the one-table arena in front of a packed Crucible audience. A break of 55 steadied the Leicester potter's nerves in the third frame and he sealed it with a run of 30 to the final pink.

But Murphy made him pay for missing a brown into the right middle pocket in the next and an 84 break re-established his two-frame lead at the interval.

And after the interval Murphy re-established his authority as he compiled a century break to stretch his lead.

In the other semi-final Stephen Maguire and John Higgins shared the opening eight frames in the battle of the Scots.

Maguire dominated the early part of the session and led 3-1 at the interval but the trend was reversed when the players returned to the table.

But 26-year-old Maguire has given every indication in this tournament he is back to his form of three years ago when he first burst onto the scene. Maguire, appearing in his first world semi-final, registered his sixth century of the tournament - 102 - in the third frame. But Higgins hit back in the fifth with a break of 113.