Shaun Murphy
_2015-02-08_15.jpg) | |
| Nickname | The Magician[1] |
|---|---|
| Professional | 1997– |
| Highest ranking |
|
| Current ranking | 8 (as of 28 October 2024) |
| Century breaks | 682 (as of 27 October 2024) |
| Tournament wins | |
| Ranking | 3 |
| World Champion | 2005 |
Shaun Murphy (born 10 August 1982, Harlow, England) is an English professional snooker player who is the reigning UK Champion, and the 2005 World Champion.
Murphy is noted for his widely acclaimed cue action and his consistent long potting. He is one of the few players who can play with his left hand as well as his right.[2]
For the 2007-2008 season, Murphy was ranked at number three, his highest ever, and he retained this for the next two seasons. In 2007/2008 he reached at least the semi-finals of five ranking events, without winning any. After an unsuccessful start at the 2008/2009 season he won the UK Championship and reached the World Championship final.
Career
Early career
Murphy began playing snooker at the age of 8 when he was given a snooker cue that his father had bought from a jumble sale. He soon joined a club and practised heavily, making his first century break by the age of 10. At the age of 13, he gave an interview to the BBC, stating his ambitions of winning the World Championship and becoming world number one. Aged 13 he had already secured a £5,000-a-year sponsorship deal.[3] He turned professional at 15.
Unlike Lee Walker who was not allowed to play in professional tournamounts whilst under 16, Murphy was allowed to play.
In 2000, he was awarded World Snooker Newcomer of the Year and Young Player of Distinction of the Year,[4] but his progress was gradual until his World Championship victory. In the same year, he won the Amateur English Open and the Benson & Hedges Championship, and made a maximum break in the next year's Benson & Hedges tournament. He reached the semi-finals of the British Open in 2004, his first run past the last 16 of a ranking event. He reached the Crucible in 2002 and 2003, losing 10-9 to Ken Doherty on the final black in the latter, and lost a qualifying match to Stuart Pettman in 2004.
2004/2005
2005 World Championship
During the 2005 World Championship, he beat former world champions John Higgins (13-8), Steve Davis (13-4), Peter Ebdon (17-12), and finalist Matthew Stevens (18-16) to win the World Championship.[3] His run echoed the first championship win of his childhood idol Davis, who also beat three world champions (Alex Higgins, Cliff Thorburn and Terry Griffiths) to reach the final.
The tournament doubled his previous career prize money and his run to the final earned him the nickname Magician. He purchased a Mercedes-Benz E-Class and a house with the proceeds of his win.[5]
At the age of 22, Murphy became the second youngest player ever to win the World Championship, following Stephen Hendry who first lifted the title when he was 21. He also became only the second-ever qualifier to win the World Championship, the other being Terry Griffiths in 1979.
Murphy began the 2005 World Championship ranked number 48 in the world rankings and with the odds of 150-1. He had to play two qualifying matches to reach the final stages. No previous world champion had played that many matches (seven in total) to lift the title.
2005/2006
He was ranked number 21 after his title win, which made him the first world champion to start the new season outside of the top 16. However, he qualified automatically for every tournament in the season as the number two seed (and number one seed for the 2006 World Championship). In the first three events of the season he reached the last 16, losing deciding-frame matches to Stuart Bingham, Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott respectively.[6] He was more successful at the Welsh Open, reaching the final before losing to Stephen Lee. In the 2006 World Championship, he fell victim to the "Crucible Curse" (no first-time champion ever successfully defending the title at the Crucible) when he was defeated in the quarter-finals 13-7 by Peter Ebdon, after victories over James Wattana and Steve Davis. His overall performances over the previous two seasons moved him up to number five in the world rankings.
2006/2007
After 22 months without a title, Murphy won the 2007 Malta Cup in February 2007, defeating Welshman Ryan Day by 9 frames to 4 in the final. In his very next match, against Jamie Cope in the Welsh Open, he scored centuries in four consecutive frames, becoming only the second player ever to do this (after John Higgins in the 2005 Grand Prix final) and the only person to do so in a best-of-nine match.[7] Murphy reached the semi-finals of the 2007 World Championship after a 13-12 victory over Matthew Stevens in the quarter-finals. Murphy came from 11-5 and 12-7 down to defeat Stevens, knocking the latter out of the top 16 in doing so.[8] However, he lost to Mark Selby in the semi-finals in another deciding frame. He ended the season ranked number three, his highest ever ranking.
2007/2008
In the 2007 Grand Prix, he won four out of five matches in his group, only losing out to Marco Fu, before defeating Ryan Day and Peter Ebdon to reach the semi-finals, where he lost 6-5 to Ronnie O'Sullivan, despite being 2-5 up at one point. He reached the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Trophy and the UK Championship, making it three consecutive semi-final appearances and four of the last five. Before the UK Championship, he was provisionally ranked number one.
Murphy successfully defended his Malta Cup title in 2008, defeating Irishman Ken Doherty 9-3 in the final (the 2008 event, however, was not a ranking event).
At the 2008 World Championship he lost heavily to Ali Carter in the second round. On the five occasions Murphy has been defeated at the Crucible Theatre, his conqueror has always gone on to lose the World Championship final.
2008/2009
He did win the non-ranking Paul Hunter Classic, beating Barry Pinches, Stuart Bingham, Ricky Walden and Mark Selby.
However he has made a sluggish start to the 2008/2009 Snooker Season, losing in the first round of the first three events despite outpointing Adrian Gunnell in their match at the Grand Prix.
Murphy claimed his 3rd ranking event title in December 2008 by defeating Hong Kong's Marco Fu by 10 frames to 9 in a classic final to join Steve Davis, Alex Higgins, Terry Griffiths, John Parrott, Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark J. Williams, John Higgins and Peter Ebdon who have won both the World title and the UK Championship title, cementing his place as one of the elite top players in the world.
At the 2009 World Championship, Murphy reached the final but was soundly beaten 18-9 by the now 3 times world champion John Higgins.[9]
2009/2010
Murphy successfully defended his Paul Hunter Classic title in 2009, defeating follow Englishman Jimmy White 4-0 in the final.[10]
In November 2009, Murphy won the 2009 Premier League Snooker title with 7-3 win against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final.[11]
Performance Timeline
| Ranking Tournaments | 1997/ 98 |
1998/ 99 |
1999/ 00 |
2000/ 01 |
2001/ 02 |
2002/ 03 |
2003/ 04 |
2004/ 05 |
2005/ 06 |
2006/ 07 |
2007/ 08 |
2008/ 09 |
2009/ 10 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shanghai Masters | Not Held | 1R | 1R | SF | ||||||||||||
| Grand Prix/LG Cup | Lost in Qualifying Draw | 3R | 1R | 3R | 1R | SF | 1R | 1R | ||||||||
| UK Championship | Lost in Qualifying Draw | 3R | 2R | SF | W | |||||||||||
| Welsh Open | Lost in Qualifying Draw | F | QF | SF | QF | |||||||||||
| China Open | A (NR) | Lost in Qualifying Draw | Not Held | LQ | 1R | QF | F | QF | ||||||||
| World Snooker Championship | Lost in Qualifying Draw | 1R | 1R | LQ | W | QF | SF | 2R | F | |||||||
| Non-Ranking Tournaments | ||||||||||||||||
| The Masters | Did Not Participate | QF | QF | QF | 2R | |||||||||||
| Premier League | Did Not Participate | RR | A | A | A | W | ||||||||||
| Former Ranking Tournaments | ||||||||||||||||
| Scottish Open | Lost in Qualifying Draw | 1R | 2R | Not Held | ||||||||||||
| British Open | Lost in Qualifying Draw | 2R | SF | Not Held | ||||||||||||
| European Open/Irish Open/Malta Cup | NH | LQ | Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | 1R | 2R | W | W (NR) | Not Hold | |||||
| Northern Ireland Trophy | Not Held | QF (NR) | QF | SF | 2R | NH | ||||||||||
| Bahrain Championship | Not Held | 1R | NH | |||||||||||||
| Performance Table Legend | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| NH | tournament not held in that calendar year | A | did not participate in the tournament |
| LQ | lost in qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (RR = round robin) |
| QF | advanced to but not past the quarterfinals | SF | advanced to but not past the semifinals |
| F | advanced to the final, tournament runner-up | W | won the tournament |
| NR | means the event offered no rankings points for that season. | |||
Tournament wins
Ranking wins
Other wins
- Benson & Hedges Championship – 2000
- Malta Cup – 2008
- Paul Hunter Classic - 2008, 2009
- World Series of Snooker - Grand Final - 2009
- World Series of Snooker - Champion of Champions Challenge - 2009
- Premier League Snooker - 2009
Murphy's coaches
Murphy was coached by Steve Prest, who helped Murphy perfect his cue action and develop the tactical side of his game. Murphy was coached early on in his career by Joe Johnson, another surprise winner of the World Championship. He has also received tactical guidance from Ray Reardon.
Rivalry with Stephen Maguire
Murphy has a rivalry with Stephen Maguire, another member of the 2000 Young Players of Distinction. In a 2004 Grand Prix match, Murphy was involved in having one of Maguire's frames forfeited. As the match was about to begin, Maguire realised he had forgotten to bring his chalk with him. He asked referee Johan Oomen for permission to leave the arena.[12] While Maguire was away, Murphy spoke to the referee; the tournament director Mike Ganley was summoned and he docked Maguire a frame for not being ready to start at the scheduled time.[13] Maguire later won the match 5-2. After beating Murphy in the 2007 Welsh Open, Maguire said of the incident, "That put the icing on the cake, but we've always had a rivalry. I dislike him and I think he dislikes me. I try hard to beat everyone, but it would have hurt more if I'd lost to him."[13] Before their 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy semi-final clash, Murphy commented that the media had exaggerated the rift, commenting that "It might add spice for you (the media), but I said hello to Stephen in the practice room this morning. He's a fantastic player and I've got great respect for him. I'm willing to get on with him and if there's a problem it's not at my end".[14] They played each other again at the next tournament, the UK Championship, once more at the semi-final stage, which Maguire won as well. And in the final of the 2008 China Open Maguire defeated him once again, but this time only in a final frame decider: 10-9. Murphy gained revenge by defeating Maguire at The 2008 UK Championships Semi-Finals: 9-4.
Personal life
Murphy was born in Harlow, but has lived in Rotherham for much of his career. He is a devout Christian and prays in his dressing room before every match.[3] Murphy is a keen ping-pongist and single-figure handicap golfer.[15]
He met his wife Clare on an online Christian chat room,[16] and they spent some of the summer of 2006 doing work for a Christian charity group in Zimbabwe.[2]. However they separated in October 2008 after 3 years of marriage[17]. An interview with Murphy's ex-girlfriend, Abigayle Tadeo, revealed the two had had sex in a Kettering hotel room shortly after he left Clare. Tadeo claimed Murphy had been sending her sexual text messages and pictures of himself for months prior to leaving his wife.[18] There were concerns that Murphy's estranged wife would serve him divorce papers during play of his first round 2009 World Championship match, however this did not happen.[19]
During the 2007 World Championship it was reported in some newspapers that he had developed a rift with his father, Tony, who is a member of the World Snooker board.[20][21] He revealed that this happened 18 months earlier and that they had not spoken since. He did, however, state on BBC snooker coverage that he would happily speak to his father again if he was called.[21]
References
- ^ "Shaun Murphy". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ a b "Player Profile - Shaun Murphy", World Snooker. Retrieved on 24 February 2007.
- ^ a b c "Murphy's rise to the world summit". BBC Sport. 2005-05-03. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Murphy: Now for the No1 spot", The Scotsman, 4 May 2005. Retrieved on 24 February 2007.
- ^ "Murphy seeks win and a prayer after taking cue from his faith". The Times. 2006-04-15. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Murphy Edges Through". Ananova. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Magic Murphy sets century record", BBC Sport, 14 February 2007.
- ^ "Stevens hit for six as Murphy Prevails". WorldSnooker.com - Tournament News, 2 May 2007.
- ^ "Higgins earns third world crown". BBC Sport. 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ^ "Murphy defends Paul Hunter Classic". Eurosport. 2009-08-17. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
- ^ "Murphy ends Ronnie's reign". Sky Sports. 2009-11-30. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
- ^ "Williams crashes out", BBC Sport, 4 October 2004. Retrieved on 24 February 2007.
- ^ a b "Higginson Revelling in Spotlight", Sporting Life, 17 February 2007. Retrieved on 24 February 2007.
- ^ "Murphy and Maguire to clash in semis". World Snooker, 9 November 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
- ^ "Shaun Murphy - Did you know...?". BBC Sports, 3 May 2005. Retrieved 5 May 2007.
- ^ "Shaun Murphy", Biogs. Retrieved on 24 February 2007.
- ^ "Evening Telegraph".
- ^ ""Snooker Hero Murphy and £100 an hour escort". The People Newspaper, 3 May 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
- ^ ""Distracted Murphy beats Higginson". BBC Sports, 23 April 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
- ^ "Champ's anguish at rift with dad". Sheffield Star, 2 May 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2007.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b "Murphy fightback shocks Stevens". BBC Sports, 2 May 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2007.