SHEFFIELD (England), April 30: Matthew Stevens of Wales fought back from 6-2 down against England’s Ian McCulloch to level their world championship semifinal at eight frames all on Friday. Stevens, the losing finalist in 2000, won the first two frames of the afternoon with breaks of 61 and 62.

McCulloch stopped the rot with a 72 break in the 11th frame to go 7-4 up. But Stevens won four out of the next five frames to draw level for the first time in the match. Earlier, young qualifier Shaun Murphy produced a stunning comeback against fellow Englishman Peter Ebdon in the second session of their semi-final.

Ebdon, winner of the world title in 2002, was 6-2 up when play resumed on Friday morning. Murphy, however, rallied by winning all but one of the eight frames played in the session to grab a 9-7 lead.

The 22-year-old Murphy, who had never won a match at the Crucible venue before this year’s tournament, is bidding to become the first qualifier to reach the world final since Terry Griffiths in 1979. The semifinals are the best-of-33 frames.

Results semifinal (Best of 33 frames)

Shaun Murphy (England) leads Peter Ebdon (England) 9-7 (10-78 93-22 9-101 22-77 77-0 20-76 8-79 40-99 138-0 113-19 9-79 77-25 96-0 66-30 91-14 99-1); Matthew Stevens (Wales) is level with Ian McCulloch (England) 8-8 (38-72 39-66 23-61 4-127 53-43 6-122 71-4 0-83 119-0 77-22 34-84 75-14 103-24 0-103 64-1 72-38) —Reuters