Snooker results: Shaun Murphy beats Stuart Bingham on final black at Northern Ireland Open

Murphy needed to come from 3-1 down to eventually prevail, two centuries in the end not good enough for Bingham who will feel hard done by having played superbly well all afternoon and put himself within touching distance of the quarter-finals.

Bingham looked to have resisted Murphy's classy comeback, 60 points to the good in the deciding frame before missing a tricky red which opened the door for Murphy to land the knockout blow with a stunning clearance.

There was still much work to do for Murphy when he came to the table, but he kept his cool, pulling off a couple of good pots on the last two reds before landing inch-perfect on the final black which was at this stage chained to the baulk cushion.

Earlier, Murphy had raced out of the traps by taking the opening frame with a century of his own, at one stage in the hunt for a 147 maximum break until trying to power the red into the middle pocket while sending the cue ball around the table.

For the next three frames, Murphy was forced to watch on from his chair as Bingham took control, but it was the former who enjoyed the last laugh thanks to a memorable fightback.

Murphy told World Snooker Tour afterwards: "Stuart played incredibly well. At 3-1, I hadn't done much wrong. It was panic stations but the trick is to stay calm because you usually get a chance.

"I got lucky in the last frame, if Stuart had got a good pack split on 60 in the decider it would have been over. I love coming here to Belfast and I've got strong ties here."

Wilson too strong for Moody

World champion Kyren Wilson had too many guns for rookie Stan Moody, eventually winning 4-1.

"I was on a bit of a hiding to nothing because I was expected to beat Stan," Wilson said afterwards.

"I had to make sure I stayed professional, played the right shots and kept him under pressure.

"I had a week off after the Wuhan Open so I'm pleased to come here, switch back on and get to another quarter-final."

Up next for Wilson is Mark Williams who defeated Ma Hailong 4-2, while Pang Junxu continued his solid form by trouncing Martin O'Donnell 4-0.

Pang will face Neil Robertson in the last eight, the Australian brushing aside Oli Lines 4-1.