Snooker: Not even a fire scare could stop red-hot title-holder Shaun Murphy from rampaging towards the World Championship quarter-finals in Sheffield today.
An evacuation of the Crucible Theatre three frames into the second session of his match against Steve Davis failed to halt the momentum the top seed had already built up.
Leading 6-2 overnight, Murphy went on to extend his advantage to 10-3 and after a brief revival from the six-times former champion, ended his day's work 11-5 up having taken the concluding frame.
The afternoon action had been under way for less than an hour when tournament director Mike Ganley entered the arena to suspend play after the fire alarm had sounded in the outer areas of the venue.
Davis had just reduced his deficit to 8-3, and if anything the interruption affected him more, for Murphy was straight back into his stride on the resumption after a delay of around 30 minutes.
The defending champion, who had struggled with a chest infection during his first-round win over James Wattana, produced some of the devastating potting that carried him to the crown last year.
After opening the stint with a run of 75, the 23-year-old knocked in a 74 straight after the enforced break and capitalised on a series of errors from a well below-par Davis.
Murphy trounced the 'Nugget' 13-4 when they met in the quarter-finals 12 months ago and while the 48-year-old has improved on that scoreline, his chances look to have disappeared.
Two more frames are all Murphy requires to advance when the match is completed tomorrow morning.
The disruption - it transpired there was no fire and the alarm had been triggered by a heat sensor in a kitchen - was
more significant in the adjacent match.
Mark Selby, shock first-round conqueror of John Higgins, was on a break of 26 when forced to put down his cue, and while he extended the contribution to 52 he still lost the frame to Mark Williams.