Shaun Murphy edged ahead of Marco Fu in the final of the Maplin UK Championship after the first session in Telford.

The Englishman leads 5-3 after taking the last frame of the session, putting him on course for the second ranking event title of his career.

World number three Murphy had not won a tournament match this season before arriving in Shropshire, but the 2005 world champion knocked out Martin Gould, Mark Allen, Stephen Lee and Stephen Maguire to secure his place in the final.

Hong Kong's Fu, ranked 14th in the world, eliminated Barry Hawkins, Matthew Stevens, Ronnie O'Sullivan's conqueror Joe Perry and Ali Carter.

Fu rattled in the only century of the afternoon session but was left two frames in arrears in the best-of-19 match after Murphy proved marginally the more consistent player.