Sean Murphy accuses Matchroom promoters of ‘despicable’ treatment.

“For me to be fired first is despicable, and I think they’ve done themselves great embarrassment by treating me with such disrespect,” Murphy told ITV.

He added: “I always pride myself on my ability to act as professionally as possible, and I try to treat the game with an incredible amount of respect.

“There are three other players in this tournament who weren’t even in China last week. The way the match room has been treated in this tournament is nothing short of despicable.”

In response, Matchroom said she spoke to Murphy afterward and “shared his frustrations.”

“Our priority is the players, and we are proud of the fact that they consider this event prestigious and want to prepare for it,” the statement read.

“For transparency and fairness, groups [for the draw] Depends on seed. Scheduling is always a challenge every year, but we take points into consideration and are always striving to improve for next year and the future.

Lee, ranked 31st in the world, opened up a two-frame lead before Murphy reduced the deficit.

However, Lee responded with a break of 61 to take the fourth frame with Murphy unable to respond in the fifth frame.

Meanwhile, England’s Judd Trump booked his place in the quarter-finals with a 4-1 win over China’s Bai Yulu.

Women’s world champion Bey, 22, won the opening frame of the first meeting between the players.

But Trump, the men’s world number one, held his nerve to win the next two frames with breaks of 84 and 71, securing a quarter-final meeting with Lee the Conqueror Murphy.