SSB - THE 2000s: MURPHY'S LAW

[MySockPuppet]

Shaun Murphy’s capture of the 2005 World Championship came out of the blue.

Murphy had been earmarked as ‘one to watch’ for a number of years, which is usually a poisoned chalice because if results don’t come quickly it gives people the chance to say ‘he’s not as good as they say.’

Well, Murphy proved he was as good as had been suggested.

He had to qualify for the Crucible in 2005. Indeed, he nearly missed out, scraping past Joe Swail 10-8 to reach Sheffield for a third time.

On his first appearance three years earlier he had drawn Stephen Hendry. After losing, he came into the small press conference room to face the assembled media. This can be a forbidding experience for even hardened competitors let alone rookies.

But Murphy took it all in his stride. His self confidence has never been lacking and he spoke of how he wanted to be remembered in the same breath as Hendry and Steve Davis.

A year later, Ken Doherty beat him 10-9 on the black. In 2004, Murphy reached the British Open semi-finals but this hardly pointed to his extraordinary success at the Crucible a few months later.

In the first round he drew Chris Small, by then seriously afflicted by a disease of the spine. Murphy came through before knocking out John Higgins in the second round and thus proving he could handle the game’s big names on its biggest stage.

Davis fell in the quarter-finals and Peter Ebdon provided a stern test in the semis but Murphy won all five frames of the final session to beat him 17-12.

Matthew Stevens held the clear advantage after day one of the final but Murphy, whose rock solid technique is allied to a similarly fierce temperament, never gave up and won 12 of the final day’s 18 frames to win 18-16 and, at just 22, achieve a lifetime’s ambition.

Murphy became the first qualifier since Terry Griffiths in 1979 to win the world title.

His was the last victory under Embassy’s sponsorship and seemed to indicate the end of one era and the start of another.

It hasn’t quite turned out that way but Murphy, firmly ensconced in the world’s top four, is well placed at the age of 27 to achieve plenty more success in the years to come.

He added the UK Championship trophy to his haul of silverware last season and has also won two Malta Cups.

He was in the world final against last season and I would personally be surprised if he didn’t win it again.




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[RocketRoy1983]

His 2005 was certainly a bolt out of the blue. He is playing at one of the most competitive times weve seen in recent years although I had expected him to win more by now. His performance in this years world final was disappointing although Higgins played out of his skin and not many would have stood a chance on that day.

I predict more from him this season and would fully expect him to win a title with retaining the UK favourite for me. If he goes on to win the Masters his place in history will be promoted that little bit better too.

[Odrl]

Yes, that World title was quite remarkable, as Murphy had previously not shown anything like the form he produced in that Championship. He was a huge favourite against Small in the 1st round, despite being the qualifier, so his real opening was against Higgins. Murphy was trashed by Higgins in the British Open SF earlier in the season, so I expected Higgins to prevail. But Higgins was not the same player in that match, and neither was Murphy. He displayed tremendous attacking snooker, similar to Liang's debut at the WC, and I doubt anyone has had a better or equal long potting % at the WC since.

It was after the Higgins match that I started to think Murphy had a shot at the title. Although at that point the likes of O'Sullivan, Hendry, Stevens and Ebdon were still in the tournament. Davis was not playing well enough to seriously challenge him, but the last two matches were as tough as you'd expect. A player as inexperienced as Murphy was at the time, could have easily succumbed to the pressure of the occasion in that World final, especially when he went down a couple of frames against Stevens. But he raised his game when he needed to, and that became the norm in the following seasons.

As I remember, quite a few people were unconvinced by Murphy's title, saying he was never going to win it again. Or even more, saying he was never going to win anything again. The latter has already been proven wrong, as Murphy has won three more titles since, and also established himself as a top4 player. But (in my opinion) he hasn't done it by playing the sort of game that won him the WC. He improved in the areas that were his weak points, especially the tactical side of the game, and he also got physically fitter. One of his trade marks is also his determination, which he showed in the 2007 WC QF against Stevens, when he won from 7-12 behind, in one of my favourite matches.

His reliance on his all-around game has produced a very solid B-game, which has been getting him to the business end of tournaments with great consistency. But a lot of the time he would then meet someone playing at their best, and he would just come a bit short. To be fair, he hasn't cued as well as in the 2005 WC very often since, and it was a more mature game that landed him the UK title, and the WC final last season. Whether that's a good thing for him is debatable, but I think he approached things the right way in the last couple of seasons.

I wouldn't necessarily agree that this is a particularly competitive time in the game, at least not at the top, as you have the likes of Carter and Day in the top8, which would probably not have been the case a couple of years ago. But the two dominant players are already past the usual peak years of players, so Murphy's generation is now gradually going to take over. And that generation does not have an O'Sullivan or a Higgins, so it should be wide open. There's still a lot of good players though, so nothing is guaranteed, but I would expect Murphy to feature heavily at the business end of tournaments for the next 6 or 7 years.