Shaun Murphy struggled to keep his frustration under wraps (Image: BBC SPORT)
Shaun Murphy was left furious in a moment of madness after missing a simple shot during the World Snooker Championship final. The one-time Crucible king went into the match against Wu Yize with high hopes of securing his second title, over two decades after his first triumph on snooker’s biggest stage.
The start of the final didn’t go to plan for Murphy, who conceded the opening frame before making a mess of an effort on the green in the second. He needed the rest to attempt a long pot into the far corner, but got his bearings wrong. The green cannoned off the jaws of the pocket and rolled back out, prompting a frustrated reaction.
Murphy responded by slamming the rest down on the table in an uncharacteristic moment of fury for the 43-year-old.
BBC commentator Joe Perry said: “Well, oh, he’s disgusted. He’s thrown the rest down. You don’t see Shaun Murphy do that, so something obviously affected his concentration there.”
Two-time finalist John Parrott added: “I suppose the only thing you can say is that the pink is in a slightly safer position. He’ll be extremely disappointed, of course, not to have made enough on his own visit there.”
Later in the frame, Murphy went on to inadvertently set up an easy shot on the pink for Wu to sink and move two ahead.
During the break between frames, the Englishman walked out of the arena, seemingly taking a moment to compose himself after a poor start to the match.
In the BBC studio, 1997 world champion Ken Doherty said: “He’s been so effective already in this World Championship but every now and then it can go wrong. If you don’t catch it absolutely perfectly, this is what happens.
Murphy got off to a poor start in the Crucible showpiece (Image: Getty)
“When he missed that green, something disturbed him in the audience. You never see any sort of reaction from him, but he threw the rest down, almost in disgust that he missed the opportunity.
“He’s so good with the rest but it was a long way away. He got up off the shot, looked into the crowd and threw the rest down and that’s why he has taken a little moment to get out the arena and get himself together. A bad start from him.”
It came after Murphy suggested that he had a lucky omen ahead of the final, with his nephew Joshua in the crowd. He was also in attendance as a young boy when Murphy secured Crucible glory back in 2005.
“He comes to as much as he possibly can and I’m pleased to say that, 21 years after he made his debut here as a child, he was totally under the belief that it was his lucky pants that won me that championship,” explained Murphy.
“My sister was washing his underpants in the hotel room all week. He was convinced it was his lucky pants. I don’t think that’s what’s got me to this stage this week.
“I hope not. He’s a different man these days. I think he changes his pants at least once a week.”
EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page.