CWM'S Mark Williams was on the brink of defeat last night at the Masters snooker as Alan McManus took control of a tight quarter-final.

McManus was never behind against the double world champion and clinched a vital eighth frame 61-22 thanks to a break of 55, to move 5-3 ahead and just a frame away from victory.

Williams needed to win three consecutive frames in order to book his place in the quarter-final.

World champion Shaun Murphy bowed out of the Masters yesterday, but not without a fight against Grand Prix champion John Higgins.

Murphy led 2-1, but Higgins won three frames on the trot and then held his nerve to clinch a 6-4 victory at the Wembley Conference Centre.

The world number six, in pursuit of this year's £125,000 winner's prize, will now play either McManus or Williams in the second of this year's semi-finals on today.

Murphy is always confident when he finds himself trailing in a match - but this time he never got the momentum going.

"I think I have something in-built in me and I'm good at fighting back when I'm behind," said Murphy.

"It's just a shame I didn't find that at the start of the match. "I seem to be able to produce comebacks and pull matches out of the fire. But I got a little burnt yesterday."

Referring to misses on a red and then a blue, which could have seen him lead 4-3 or then level at 5-5, Murphy added: "I didn't really know what to do.

"I didn't have much choice other than to take the shot on. I missed - and, of course, John went 4-2 ahead. I'll always take on my shots.

"It was nice to produce when I was behind - but I didn't do enough." Murphy did battle back to 5-4, before Higgins pocketed a splendid 74 to secure victory.

Higgins, delighted with his victory, said: "I was a little bit nervous at the start of the match but I made a great clearance to get back to 1-1.

"If Shaun had gone 2-0 ahead it might have been difficult to catch him.

"He's such a good long-potter that it puts the fear of God into you. He backs himself 100 per cent, and it was a case of a do-or-die attitude out there. He goes for his shots.

"Shaun has got something about him. There's only one or two players who think they can come back when they're 5-3 down. Thankfully he didn't this time.

"Your safety play has to be so good against Shaun because he backs himself to get his long pots."

For once, though, it was not quite enough.

"But when it came down to the nitty gritty I was able to take my chances after he'd missed a couple of shots.

"Without being disrespectful, I was more focused for this match than I was for my match with Jimmy White in the last round."