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| May 4, 2005 | Wednesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1426 |
Stevens enjoys slim lead in final
SHEFFIELD (England), May 3: Welshman Matthew Stevens held a slim 12-11 lead over Shaun Murphy in the final of the snooker world championship at the end of the penultimate session on Monday. English qualifier Murphy won five out of the seven afternoon frames to cut the deficit after trailing 10-6 overnight.
Stevens appeared on course to go 12-10 up in the 22nd frame, but he missed the blue and Murphy cleared up to win and square at 11-11 before Stevens took the last 88-20.
The best-of-35-frames final concludes on Monday evening, with a cheque for 250,000 pounds ($475,800) going to the champion.
Stevens is making his second appearance in the world final after finishing runner-up in 2000. Murphy is the first qualifier since Terry Griffiths in 1979 to reach the final.
Results final (Best of 35 frames):
Matthew Stevens (Wales) leads Shaun Murphy (England) 12-11 (30-67 98-0 103-20 55-68 65-29 65-22 34-76 56-46 58-53 70-38 0-125 6-79 105-24 86-5 9-103 68-58 22-78 11-84 64-5 60-80 0-137 57-64 88-20)—Reuters
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