Shaun Murphy (snooker player)
Shaun Murphy ( born August 10, 1982 in Northampton ) is an English snooker player from Rotherham to Sheffield. In 2005 he was World Champion.
Career
Shaun Murphy (nicknamed " Whiston Warrior ", " The Magician " ) began his professional career as a snooker player in 1997.
According to the 2001 / 02 season, Murphy got the awards World Snooker Newcomer of the Year and YPD of the Year awards, after winning the 2000 Benson & Hedges Championship, which enabled him to participate in the Masters in London.
In 2005, he surprisingly won the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield. He then took place only 48 of the snooker world rankings and initially had to fight for the place in qualifying in the World Cup finals. Murphy defeated in the final 18:16 with Matthew Stevens frames. He is only the second player after Terry Griffiths Snooker, which it in 1979 as unseeded players managed to win the world title. With this victory Murphy moved after the season to No. 21 of the official world rankings.
His best result in the 2005/06 season he reached at the Welsh Open. In the final he defeated Stephen Lee there with 4:9. In the 2006 World Cup he could not defend his title. In the quarterfinals, he lost against Peter Ebdon at 7:13. Nevertheless in the world rankings for the 2006/07 season he moved up to 5th place.
When Malta Cup 2007 Murphy won the final on 4 February 2007 compared Ryan Day with 9:4. While preparing for the 2007 World Cup, he took off at 18 kg body weight. In this World Cup, he made the semi-finals and thus gained enough points to take 3rd place in the world rankings at the end.
When Pot Black Cup of the season 2007/2008 he lost the final the Irishman Ken Doherty; in February 2008 he successfully defended his title at the Malta Cup with a win over the same opponents. However, both tournaments were no world ranking tournaments. Due to its consistent performance throughout the season with several semi-finals, and reaching the finals of the China Open, where he lost to Stephen Maguire just with 9:10 frames, but he was able to collect enough points to as the leader of the provisional ranking at the season final World Cup participate. However, he was defeated there in the second round to the eventual finalists, Allister Carter, so he once again slipped in at the end of the official world rankings at No. 3.
After starting with moderate success in the 2008/ 09 season and excreted in several Main Tour tournaments in the first round, he succeeded in the catchment UK Championship finals and finally a contested 10:9 - final win against Marco Fu. He was thus the tenth player to have won the two major snooker tournaments with the World Championship and UK Championship. Despite a cold, which had caused him problems in advance, Shaun Murphy reached the final of the World Snooker Championship 2009. With 9:18 but he was defeated very clearly the Scot John Higgins, who had in particular gained a big lead in the second session.
In addition to the main tour, he took part in the 2008 /09 season with two single tournaments and at the final tournament in Portimão the newly formed World Series of Snooker. In the final game of the final tournament, he was able to win 6-2 against John Higgins and thus avenge their defeat in the previous World Cup final. In the 2009/10 season, he again took part in the World Series of Snooker and won the first tournament 5-1 in the final against Jimmy White.
The 2010/11 season began for Murphy with a victory at the Wuxi Classic. World ranking points he collected from the Players Tour Championship, a season to this newly launched series of minor ranking tournaments. The Bruges Open 2010 he won the final against Matthew Couch. Also in the Ruhr Championship in Hamm, he came to the finals, but it lost to John Higgins. He also qualified for the final tournament of the series in Dublin in March 2011 and won the Grand Finals with a playoff victory over Martin Gould 4-0. In the Snooker World Championship 2011, he came with his 10-1 victory over Marcus Campbell in the second round, he lost with 10:13 against Ronnie O'Sullivan.
In the 2011/2012 season he won 18 September 2011 the Brazil Masters against Graeme Dott 5-0.
Beginning of the 2012/13 season he lost the final of the 6- Red World Championship 2012 against Mark Davis with 4:8. At the end of the season he was included in the Snooker Hall of Fame.
In January 2014, Murphy scored his second official maximum break in group 2 of the Championship League 2014. In February 2014 he won as part of the Players Tour Championship 2013/14 Gdynia Open 2014, where he also in his second round match against Jamie Jones another Break maximum played. A month later, he won his fifth ranking tournament with the Haikou World Open 2014.
Strengths and weaknesses
Murphy has great strengths in match play. He sunk extremely difficult balls and is therefore also capable of a " fixed played " save situation, only one of Safety, so the controlled phasing, would come in for a lot of players in question. Murphy uses after the opening of the frame is the smallest chance to the first point and is often in a position for so long to stay at the table until the frame is decided in his favor.
His great risk appetite is also the chance for the opponent. He not Sink the targeted long ball, he sometimes leaves an open table, and thus the enemy all the possibilities. His skills in the tactical game were initially far from the best in the scene. After his World Cup victory in 2005, he built these deficits from successive.
Achievements
Ranking Tournaments
- Snooker World Championship - 2005
- Malta Cup - 2007
- UK Championship - 2008
- Players Tour Championship - Grand Finals - 2011
- Haikou World Open - 2014
Minor - ranking tournaments
- Gdynia Open - 2014
Invitation Tournaments
- Benson & Hedges Championship - 2000
- Malta Cup - 2008
- Premier League Snooker - 2009
- Wuxi Classic - 2010
- Brazil Masters - 2011
Other
- Challenge Tour event 3-2001
- Challenge Tour event 4-2001
- Paul Hunter Classic - 2008, 2009
- World Series of Snooker - Grand Finals - 2009
- World Series of Snooker - Champion of Champions Challenge - 2009