Murphy gives warning of shape of things to come (original) (raw)

WHICH comparison best applied to Shaun Murphy’s extraordinary success in the Embassy World Championship on Monday? Numerically, it was the victory of Joe Johnson in 1986 but, for an emotional parallel, look no further than Stephen Hendry’s win in 1990.

Not since Johnson’s 150-1 success has a player made the Crucible stage the location for his first world-ranking tournament win or produced such excellence without any prior warning. Yet while the achievements of Murphy and Johnson will be linked if only for the astonishment they generated, the manner in which Murphy accepted what he had achieved as though it was second nature reminded one of Hendry on the night he captured the first of his seven world titles. Hendry was not surprised when he won the title; neither was Murphy.

“I just kept believing. All the balls I potted there at the end I’ve been potting in my mind since I was 12. I must admit I always thought I would do this. It’s the sort of thing I’ve been working towards since I was a young lad,” Murphy, 22, said.

Now, as the Crucible returns to life as a Sheffield theatre, Murphy, who beat Matthew Stevens 18-16 in an outstanding final, is being described as a man of destiny. He collected a first prize of £250,000 — £235,000 more than his previous biggest payday in six years as a professional — and has entered the record books as the second youngest winner in the 78-year history of the World Championship behind only Hendry, who was 21 when meeting his own expectations 13 years ago.

However, Hendry arrived at the Crucible in 1990 challenging for world No 1 status, with two Benson and Hedges Masters and five world ranking tournament wins to bolster his confidence. In contrast, Murphy turned up as world No 48, having spent his entire six-year professional career involved in qualifying competition dogfights. On his only semi-final appearance in the British Open last November, he was whitewashed 6-0 by John Higgins.

The key to what transpired lay in Murphy’s self-belief and the technical advice imparted by Steve Prest, his coach. “I always knew I had the capabilities to win this. It’s just taken a couple of years longer than I thought,” Murphy, a born-again Christian, who last season moved from Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, to Rotherham to be with his now fiancée, Clare, said. They met on a church website chatroom and will marry in July.

The move north gave Murphy and Prest the opportunity to work together more regularly at the 147 Club, Ecclesfield, and the Manhattan Snooker Centre, Harrogate. Prest noticed that Murphy’s back swing was so long his cue was almost coming out of the crevice between thumb and forefinger. Murphy practised with a shorter cue-action and the results have been spectacular.

“It’s the end of a long journey and the start of a new one. Now I want to be world No 1,” Murphy said. He will begin next season No 21 in the rankings but seeded No 2 for every event under a safety net rule for a reigning world champion.

PUNCHING ABOVE THEIR WEIGHT

SHAUN MURPHY might not be the model of sporting athleticism, carrying perhaps more than a little too much luggage about on his person, but there are precedents. For example . . .

ANDY FORDHAM: “The Viking”, a man with a taste for the ingestion of 25 bottles of lager on a daily basis, was almost 30 stone when he won the Lakeside World Darts Championship last year.

CRAIG STADLER: If seeking trousers, the golfer they called “The Walrus” would have to aim for the section marked Short Portly. It did not stop him winning the Masters in 1982.

JAMES TONEY: The world boxing champion at middleweight in the early Nineties won the WBA heavyweight title by outpointing John Ruiz in New York on Saturday night weighing 16st 9lb — more than 5st above his old fighting weight.

JAN MOLBY: The midfield player was possibly the least sylph-like character ever to figure in either a Liverpool or Denmark shirt. In 1998, Rhayader, the Welsh League club, tried to lure him to play for them by offering to pay him in meat rather than money.

COLIN MILBURN: the late Northamptonshire batsman never weighed less than 18 stone. It did not prevent him from scoring two centuries for England.

MEL WEBB