Former snooker world champion Shaun Murphy of the United Kingdom defeated young challenger Zhou Yuelong of China, 6-1, during the 2015 Betway Snooker UK Championship held at the York Barbican in York, England last Saturday.

It was a "fine display of break-building" for the 33-year-old ex-champ to defeat his 17-year-old nemesis in the round-of-64 stage of the prestigious British tournament, as per Xinhuanet.

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World no. 4 Murphy zoomed his way to a 4-0 advantage after breaks of 63, 124, 100, and 73 respectively, before giving up a table to Zhou then racking the next two en route to the lopsided win.

The report also mentioned that with the win, Murphy was able to redeem himself from a shocking 2-4 loss to Zhou's 15-year-old compatriot, Yan Bingtao, during the 2015 Champion of Champions professional snooker tournament held earlier in the month.

"It's good to build form through a tournament, although when you start as well I have there's not much room for improvement," Murphy said. "There are things I can do better but if I keep playing like that I'll take some stopping. You don't win a tournament in round two so I need to keep that standard for the next game."

The Harlow, England native also acknowledged his opponent's "bright future" in the sport and complimented Zhou as a "World Champion in the making".

"I knew my job ahead of me," Murphy told the York Press. "I know how good these lads are and I knew I had to play somewhere near my best to really have a chance."

"He (Zhou) has an extremely big future in this sport. If he keeps playing and applying himself, and doing the right things, I think he's a world champion in the making. He's very special, that boy," he added.

Murphy now moves on to the tourney's round-of-32 where he would meet the winner of the match between fellow Englishman Ben Woollaston and Scotland's Ross Muir.

TagsChina sports news 2015, 2015 Snooker UK Championship, Shaun Murphy, Zhou Yuelong