Shaun Murphy overpowers Neil Robertson in Masters final

London: Shaun Murphy thrashed Australia`s Neil Robertson 10-2 in the final of the Masters at London`s Alexandra Palace on Sunday to complete a career triple crown.

The Englishman`s crushing win over Robertson saw him join the world number one in a select group, now comprising 10 players, who have each won snooker`s three most prestigious tournaments -- the World Championship, the UK Championship and the Masters.

Murphy raced into a 6-2 lead during Sunday`s opening session and won four frames in a row at the start of the evening`s play to take the title after coming out on top in a hard-fought ninth frame.

Not since snooker great Steve Davis whitewashed Mike Hallett 9-0 in 1988 had there been a more lopsided Masters final.

Robertson produced arguably the performance of the tournament in cruising past Ronnie O`Sullivan 6-1 in the semi-finals.

Yet he was a spectator for much of the final, with Murphy surging into a 5-0 lead.

Murphy, world champion in 2005 and winner of the UK title in 2008, produced breaks of 64, 127, 76 and 69.

His 64 gave Murphy the opening frame and the 32-year-old went 2-0 in front after Robertson had tried to gain snookers on the colours.

Murphy, producing some of his best form in years, made a superb clearance of 127 to take the third frame.

Although he missed a long red in the next, Robertson`s own potting was proving fallible and a missed brown let Murphy back in to make a break of 76.

The first frame after the mid-session interval did not reach the same heights but Murphy won it all the same thanks to a break of 43.

Robertson, who beat Murphy in the 2012 final, made sure he avoided the embarrassment of a whitewash with 80 in the sixth frame before Murphy responded with 69 to go 6-1 in front.

The last frame of the session saw Robertson give himself a glimmer of hope. He was first in with a break of 43 but saw Murphy make 49 in reply before escaping an awkward snooker to reduce his deficit to four frames.

However, Robertson`s slim hopes of a stunning comeback win evaporated after he missed chances to win the ninth frame and from then on there was no stopping Murphy.