(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-16 15:21

Former world champion Shaun Murphy confirmed his place in the last 16 of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix in Aberdeen Monday following a 4-3 victory in the round-robin stage over China's Ding Junhui, who was eliminated.

Marco Fu, of Hong Kong, joined Murphy in the next stage of the competition with a 4-3 win over England's Stuart Bingham.

Holder Neal Robertson, of Australia, needs to beat Stephen Lee Tuesday to have a chance of progressing to the last 16.

But if Joe Perry beats the already qualified Joe Swail, who has four wins out of four, he will also move to four wins, one more than Robertson is capable of equalling.

Two successive group victories were the perfect start for Stephen Maguire as the five Scots in contention joined the action on day three.

The former UK champion first defeated fellow Scotsman Stephen Hendry 4-2 then followed on with an impressive 4-1 success over last year's runner-up Jamie Cope, of England, as he set his stall out for a last 16 place on Thursday.

"Even though I made a maximum on my debut here seven years ago, I've never really done myself justice playing on home soil," said Maguire, who has not won a ranking event since he captured the UK crown in 2004.

"I'm not keen on the group stages of the grand prix, though one defeat doesn't necessarily mean you are out."

Hendry later stuttered to a 4-2 win over Rory McLeod. The seven-time world champion compiled breaks of 66, 61, 52 and 51.

"This format isn't my favourite but it's a good idea to have different ways of running an event," Hendry said. "It doesn't matter whether I like it or not."