Shaun Murphy broke the long-standing record for the most unanswered points in a professional match with an extraordinary display against Matthew Selt in the first round of the China Open on Sunday.

Former World Champion Murphy opened the tie with breaks of 18, 61, 132, 103, 139 and 113, then at the start of frame six he made 41 before playing safe. That gave him a new record of 607 points without reply, before Selt finally ended the sequence by potting a red. Murphy's tally surpassed the previous record of 556, set by Ronnie O'Sullivan during a 6-0 win over Ricky Walden at the 2014 Masters.

Murphy also equalled the record for the most consecutive centuries with four, and he has now achieved this twice in his career - a feat matched only by Mark Allen and Neil Robertson. In the last frame of the contest the Englishman had a chance for a new record five tons in a row, but lost position on 41. His break of 113 in frame five could have been a 147 had he not missed a difficult thin cut on the 15th black. He went on to win the match 6-0 to reach the last 16.

"I can't believe it, I'm over the moon,"said Murphy, runner-up to Wu Yize at the Crucible in May. "I knew I was close - at the interval I didn't want to go looking on any websites to check what the record was. If you find yourself in the bubble and in the flow, you just want to stay in it. It was a delight to play for a great crowd out there and put on a good show. I haven't set that many records throughout my career and I am sure someone will go out and beat this one at some stage. But to be part of snooker history in this way is a great thrill.

"It's my first time in this city of Taiyuan and I'm celebrating my birthday tomorrow, I've got the day off and so I'll be out seeing the sights. If anyone wants to give me a glass of wine I'll be happy to take it!"

Magnificent Murphy Breaks Unanswered Points Record With 607