In the evening session, three-time UK champion Higgins and 2008 winner Murphy won their matches to set up what promises to be one of the best last-16 matches.
“Winning is all that matters,” said Murphy following his 6-2 win over Lyu, a victory that saw the Englishman win five frames in a row as he recovered from 2-1 down.
“It’s just like the World Championship in the first round. I watched every single ball of [qualifying] Judgement Day, I love it, then you realise you’re going to play one of these guys that are really sharp, match fit and they have a fair crack at it.
“I played nicely in parts, a few mistakes, but delighted to get through and the small matter of John Higgins next.”
Higgins and Mark Williams are already 50 years old, with Ronnie O’Sullivan reaching that landmark on Friday, and Murphy felt the trio were a snooker inspiration.
“What they continue to achieve, spurring each other on, is remarkable,” added Murphy, 43. “John has been a big help in my career, I watched him a lot and I just hope I don’t have to watch him too much in the next round.
“It has shown what the rest of us can do if you keep your heads down. When I first started playing snooker, you thought your career would be over by 40, but they have been the trailblazers.”
Higgins won two frames against Woollaston on the black and made five half-century breaks during the match.
“Ben will be kicking himself. He should have won frames two and three, I made some good clearances,” said Higgins
“I played Shaun in China and I managed to win, but he beat me the last couple of times before that. He hits the ball like an absolute dream so I hope it’s a good game.
“Winning the Masters [in January] has given him extra confidence and he is so dangerous when he is playing well. It’s Scotland against England.”
Earlier on, Si became the first man through to the last 16 after making easy work of Wales’ Ryan Day with a 6-0 victory in just over two hours.
The Welshman failed to register a single point in four of those six frames, scoring only 55 points in total compared to 521 from Si, who made breaks of 61, 80 and 68.
Sixteenth seed Si also potted 151 balls, with only 16 from Day, whose highest break of the afternoon was only 22.
