With celebrities aplenty in ­attendance and a protester bursting on to the ­hallowed Crucible floor, at one stage on Sunday there threatened to be more ­headlines off the baize than on it during the opening half of snooker’s two-day extravaganza to crown its world champion. But by Sunday evening and as the halfway point of the final between Shaun Murphy and Wu Yize approached, both ­competitors ensured all the talk will be about what is to follow on Monday afternoon and ­evening inside one of sport’s most famous buildings. There is history to be made ­irrespective of who triumphs at some stage on Monday. If it is Murphy who claims his ­second world title, that would break the record for the longest gaps between world titles by some distance: ­Murphy’s maiden win was way back in 2005 when he was only 22. But after Zhao Xintong’s ­historic victory last year burst open the boundaries of possibility for ­Chinese snooker, there is now the very ­realistic chance of back-to-back and ­different champions from China.…