<div data-component="text-block"><div><p><b>Jack Lisowski claimed a 6-2 win over world champion Luca Brecel as the 50th edition of the Masters got under way in stunning fashion at Alexandra Palace.</b></p><p>Breaks of 70, 100, 96 and 69 gave England's Lisowski a commanding 4-0 lead at the mid-session interval. </p><p>The Belgian rallied with runs of 80 and 72 but Lisowski sealed his win with breaks of 63 and 68.</p><p>Lisowski will now face Shaun Murphy in the quarter-finals on Thursday after he beat Chinese debutant Zhang Anda 6-2.</p><p>A half-century helped 2015 winner Murphy take the opening frame and he was always in control, opening up 3-1 and 5-2 advantages before completing his victory.</p><p>Meanwhile, Lisowski, who has reached just one semi-final on the world tour this season, credited a confidence-building run to the final of a lucrative exhibition event in Macau over the festive period for his excellent start to the second of this term's Triple Crown events.</p><p>"You never know what it is going to be like when you come out here but I felt like I could not miss in the first four frames," Lisowski told BBC Sport.</p><p>"I think I found something in China because I was really struggling and I was really scared coming here because I did not know which Jack was going to turn up.</p><p>"For me this is the scariest tournament to play in and I started well and then it turns into a great place to play."</p></div></div><div data-component="text-block"><div><p>Since winning the Championship League in July, Murphy has endured a mixed campaign and suffered a disappointing first-round exit at the UK Championship in York. </p><p>But his greater experience and poise told against Zhang who is enjoying the best spell of his career, having reached the final of the English Open in October a month before securing a maiden title at the International Championship.</p><p>Zhang had levelled the match at 1-1 with a composed 84, but several loose shots proved costly on Sunday as the Englishman came from behind to take the third frame and won a pivotal fourth. </p><p>Murphy's superb 65 clearance to go 3-1 up came only after Zhang snookered himself on a black that would have left his opponent requiring a snooker.</p><p>Breaks of 86, 71 and 89 saw Murphy reel off three of the next four frames to set up a contest against Lisowski, who thrashed him 6-1 in the 2022 UK Championship.</p><p>"[The fourth frame] is a massive, massive steal as it looked like we were going to be two each and of course those frames are so important," said Murphy.</p><p>"What a mouth-watering match to play Jack. I don't think there'll be much safety in that one."</p></div></div><div data-component="text-block"><div><p>While Lisowski and Brecel are regarded as two of the most exciting players in the modern game, a highly anticipated shootout between the pair failed to materialise in front of one of the biggest crowds on the snooker circuit. </p><p>Brecel, who has disappointed since winning the world title in scintillating fashion at the Crucible in May, looked shorn of confidence. </p><p>The 'Belgian bullet' handed the initiative to world number 16 Lisowski, who took the opener with a clearance of 70. </p><p>Lisowski complied his 300th century break in the second frame after Brecel had missed a long red and played a poor safety shot, and took the third after his opponent screwed the white into the left middle pocket. </p><p>With a whitewash seemingly on the cards, Brecel found some momentum as Lisowski's briefly stalled, taking the first frame after the interval.</p><p>Nine reds and nine blacks also saw the world number four threaten a maximum 147 in the sixth frame before he broke down on 72. </p><p>But he was unable to sustain his fightback and cut a dejected figure as the match concluded.</p><p>"[That was] terrible," Brecel said. "Every ball I see I just feel like I am just going to miss. It is just something I have to go through. Confidence comes and goes quickly, it is a strange thing.</p><p>"If I keep playing like this you will see me playing in Q School [the qualifying competition for the world tour] in 2025. At the moment it is just not good enough but Jack is a great player and I am happy for him."</p></div></div>