‘I probably shouldn’t say this’ – Shaun Murphy goes ‘on the record’ in honest admission about snooker career
SHAUN MURPHY has given an honest admission about his snooker career.
The Magician has won each Triple Crown title once during his 23-year career.
Murphy, 42, caused waves with his shock World Championship win in 2005.
He also went on to win the UK Championship in 2008 before adding the Masters to his trophy cabinet in 2015.
This has put him in an exclusive club with 11 other players to win the Triple Crown.
However, he has insisted that he would be disappointed if he finishes his career without another title.
He said: “I probably shouldn’t say this but I will put it on record that if I end my career with only one of each of those three tournaments I will be slightly disappointed.
“I feel like I should have more to show for things, when you see players winning five, six and seven of these tournaments.
“I am very happy with my one win in each, but I feel there could have been more and perhaps should have been more.
“I’ve got plenty of years left, we’ve got some old timers like Mark Williams showing us that we can all keep doing it for a long time to come, but you’d want to be winning a few of these events soon.
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“In fairness, I think I’ve always been consistent in saying that multiple winners of these Triple Crown events are slightly different from the one-time winners.
“It [the UK Championship] is another opportunity to join that club and I’ll give it my best shot.”
Murphy has been one of the most dangerous players in the sport due to his skill with the cue.
But he has admitted that he is confused that he has not won more during his career.
He added: “I don’t know, to tell you the truth. If I knew the answer I would have fixed it by now.
“I think most of my Triple Crown finals that I’ve lost have been really high-quality matches where the opponent has played incredible snooker.
“The 2015 World final against Stuart [Bingham], that was an incredible match, I think there was something like 30 breaks over 50, it was an incredibly high standard.
“I think that has been the pattern. I don’t remember losing many of these matches that were rubbish.
“Maybe it’s the odd little shot here or there, maybe over the years I have attacked when I should have defended, or even vice-versa.
“Whatever it is, I am proud that I have those trophies, but I’d like more.”
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins