Shaun Murphy (snooker player)
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| Shaun Murphy | ||
|---|---|---|
| Born | August 10, 1982 | |
| Nationality |  English |
|
| Professional | 1997 | |
| 2006/07 ranking | 5 | |
| Career prize money | (up to start of 2006/07 season): £504,720 | |
| Highest break | 147 (once) | |
| Tournament wins | ||
| Ranking events | 2 (2005 World Champion, 2007 Malta Cup champion) | |
| World Champion | 2005 | |
Shaun Murphy (born August 10, 1982) is an English professional snooker player and the 2005 world snooker champion.
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[edit] Early Career and personal life
Murphy was born in Northampton, but lives in Rotherham with his wife Clare, whom he met on an online Christian chatroom. He has told the BBC's Snooker coverage that he found faith as a teenager, and sees it as the biggest influence on his life, praying before each match.
Murphy had some tough times as a child and was bullied so much for his appearance that he was forced to be home schooled. As he played so much snooker he lost touch with the few friends he had in school and was unhappy. However on a holiday with his parents he met a Christian family and ended up going to stay with them, it was at this time he became a born again Christian and got heavily involved in the church. He says that his faith helps him whilst playing snooker and in his personal life - that once when driving he claims that Jesus told him to slow down as he did he narrowly avoided an accident.
As one of the Young Players of Distinction in 2000, he was long expected to become a star, but his progress was gradual until his world championship victory, which he put down to his powerful ginger hair blessed by a gypsy at Blackpool when he was younger. His previous best performance was reaching the semi-finals of the British Open in 2004. This was his only previous run past the last 16 of a tournament. He reached the Crucible in 2002 and 2003, losing 10-9 to Ken Doherty in the latter. He lost a qualifying match to Stuart Pettman in 2004.
Shaun also loves the United States and has visited New York three times. He is also a keen piano player and single-figure handicap golfer. He cites his passions as Snooker, God, flange, food and his wife though not necessarily in that order
[edit] World Championship win
During the 2005 championships, 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. His run echoed the first championship win of his childhood idol Davis, who also beat 3 world champions (Alex Higgins, Cliff Thorburn and Terry Griffiths) to reach the final.
The World tournament doubled his previous career prize money and his run to the final earned him the nickname Magician. His original nickname of the Ginger Ninja didnt really catch on and was hardly ever used outside of tournaments in Rotherham. He purchased a Mercedes Benz E-Class and a house with the proceeds of his world championship win.
At the age of 22, Murphy became the second youngest player ever to win the World Championships, following Stephen Hendry who first lifted the title when he was 21. He also became only the second-ever qualifier to win the World Championships, the other being Terry Griffiths in 1979.
Murphy began the 2005 World Championships ranked number 48 on the world ranking and with the odds of 125-1. He had to play two qualifying matches to reach the final stages. Never before had a World Champion played that many matches (7 in total) to lift the title.
[edit] Post-title career
He ranked number 21 after his title win, which makes him the first World Champion to start the new season outside of the top 16. He will however automatically qualify for every tournament in the 2005/06 season as the number 2 seed (and number 1 seed in the case of the 2006 World Championship). In the first three events of the 2005/2006 season, he reached the last 16, losing deciding-frame matches to Stuart Bingham, Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott. He was more successful at the Welsh Open, reaching the final before losing to Stephen Lee. After 22 months without a title, Murphy won the 2007 Malta Cup on February 4th 2007, defeating Ryan Day by 9 frames to 4 in the final. It was evident that by winning this event despite several close matches in previous tournaments since his 2005 world championship triumph, it was the best he has played for many months and even went as far to say possibly the best snooker he has played even surpassing his world championship victory because he had to play a different kind of snooker to win it. 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.
Despite his faith, he could not overcome the perhaps darker force otherwise known as the "Crucible Curse" (no first-time champion ever successfully defending the title at the Crucible) in the 2006 World Championships. His defence of his world title ended in defeat in the quarter-finals, 13-7 to Peter Ebdon, after victories over James Wattana and Davis. His overall performances over the previous 2 seasons moved him up to #5 in the World Rankings. According to his Worldsnooker.com profile, he spent some of the following summer doing work for a Christian charity group in Zimbabwe.
Murphy is best noted for his excellent cue action and his consistent long potting. Murphy, who picked up a cue at age 8, is coached by Steve Prest, who says his pupil has spent a lot of time perfecting his cue action and developing the tactical side of his game. Murphy is also part of a small group of players that can play with their left hand, along with their right. Murphy was coached early on in his career by Joe Johnson, another surprise winner of the World Championships.
He has also developed his own celebration where he throws his chalk into the crowd after winning games. Although it was once thrown back at him, he continued to celebrate his wins in this way.
