Shaun Murphy

Shaun Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player, who won the2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cueaction and his long potting. He is known for his dedication and for being a devout Christian.

Born in Harlow, England, Murphy turned professional in 1998. His victory at the World Championship was considered a major surprise as he was only the second qualifier to lift the title. His other ranking tournament victories came in the 2007 Malta Cup and the 2008 UK Championship, while he reached a second World Championship final in 2009. He also has won six non-ranking tournaments.

Murphy has won over £1 million in prize money and has compiled over 190 century breaks in his professional career. His highest world ranking was number three, which he maintained for three seasons following 2007/2008, while his ranking for the 2010/2011 season is seventh. Murphy also became engaged in a public rivalry with fellow player Stephen Maguire, while his separation from his wife in 2008, after three years of marriage, made the headlines.

For the new season, he improved his ranking to number 21, which would not usually guarantee qualification for ranking events. However, as world champion he qualified automatically for every tournament in the season as the number two seed (and number one seed for the 2006 World Championship). He was invited to play in the Premier League Snooker, a non-ranking tournament with a 25-a-second shot clock, but he went out in the round-robin stage.

In the inaugural, non ranking Northern Ireland Trophy, he reached the quarter-finals before he was defeated 4–5 by Neil Robertson. In the first three ranking events of the season—the Grand Prix, the UK Championship, and the Malta Cup—he reached the last 16, losing final-frame matches to Bingham, Robertson, and Graeme Dott, respectively. After his loss to Bingham, he complained about having to play his match on an outside table, given his world champion status. In the revival of Pot Black, a single-frame knockout tournament not staged since 1991, Murphy was defeated in the final by Stevens. He was awarded Sportsman Of The Year at the BBC East Midlands Sports Awards in December 2005.

In the Masters, Murphy lost 4–6 to Higgins in the quarter-finals, but reached his second ranking final in the Welsh Open, losing 4–9 to Stephen Lee. In the World Championship, he reached the quarter-finals, but fell victim to the "Crucible Curse"—no first-time champion has successfully defended the title at the Crucible Theater — when he was defeated 7–13 by Ebdon.

For the next season, Murphy moved to number five in the world rankings, entering the elite top 16 for the first time, and thereby automatically qualifying for the final stages of ranking tournaments and receiving an automatic invitation to the Masters.

In the Northern Ireland Trophy (a ranking event in this season), he lost 4–5 to Lee in the quarter-finals,[56] and in the UK Championship, he lost 3–9 to Alan McManus in the second round. A 3–6 defeat by Stephen Hendry in the quarter-finals of the Masters was followed by his second ranking title, when he defeated Ryan Day 9–4 in the final of the Malta Cup. After the victory, he said it was a relief to get rid of the one-hit wonder label. In his next match, a victory over Jamie Cope in the Welsh Open, he scored centuries in four consecutive frames, becoming only the second player to do this (after Higgins in the 2005 Grand Prix final) and the only person to do so in a best-of-nine match. He went on to lose 3–5 to Maguire in the quarter-finals.In the World Championship, Murphy defeated Stevens 13–12 in the quarter-finals—recovering from 5–11 down and knocking the latter out of the top 16—before losing 16–17 against Mark Selby in the semi-finals.

Murphy maintained his number three ranking for a third year in the 2009/2010 season.He successfully defended his Paul Hunter Classic title, defeating White 4–0 in the final. He won the Premier League Snooker with a 7–3 win against O'Sullivan in the final, ending the latter's run of five consecutive wins in the tournament.

He reached the semi-finals of the first ranking tournament, the Shanghai Masters, before losing 5–6 against Liang Wenbo. This would be his only run to the semi-finals or better in a ranking tournament that season. In the UK Championship, as the defending champion, he lost 5–9 to eventual winner Ding Junhui in the second round. After the match, Murphy complained about Ding leaving the arena too often after frames, saying "I can't believe anyone needs to go to the toilet after every single frame." He reached the quarter-finals of the Masters, where he lost 4–6 against Williams.[98] In the Welsh Open and the China Open, he lost his first-round matches to Stevens[99] and Nigel Bond,[100] respectively. In the World Championship, he defeated Gerard Greene and Ding, but lost 12–13 against Carter in the quarter-finals, despite leading 8–4.This was the first season in which he did not reach a final or better of a ranking tournament since the 2003/2004 season.`

After three seasons ranked number three, he dropped to number seven for the 2010/2011 season. He won the Wuxi Classic, a non-ranking tournament held in China, defeating Ding 9–8, having recovered from 2–8 down. Murphy reached the semi-finals of the Paul Hunter Classic, now part of the Players Tour Championship minor-ranking series, but lost 2–4 against eventual winner Judd Trump. Murphy won the Brugge Open, the second European event of the Players Tour Championship, with defeating Matthew Couch 4–2 in the final. He reached the final of the Ruhr Championship, but lost 2–4 against John Higgins. Murphy finished 1st on the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit.Murphy failed to defend his Premier League Snooker title, as he lost 1–7 against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final.He than reached the semi-finals of the 2010 UK Championship, where he lost to eventuel runner-up Mark Williams 8–9.

Murphy lost in the first round of the Masters 3–6 against Jamie Cope, in the second round of the German Masters 2–5 against Joe Swail and in the first round of the Welsh Open 0–4 against Matthew Stevens.[113] Murphy then won the finals of the Players Tour Championship with a 4–0 victory over Martin Gould, winning his fourth ranking title.The next week Murphy also reached the final of the Championship League, but lost 1–3 against Matthew Stevens.Murphy reached the semi-final of the China Open, where he lost 1–6 against Judd Trump. Murphy's last tournament of the season was the World Championship, where he lost in the second round 10–13 against O'Sullivan.