Shaun Murphy doubles down on Ronnie O'Sullivan criticism and says world No. 1 'owes the game more'
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Updated 23/11/2022 at 18:44 GMT
The war of words between Shaun Murphy and Ronnie O'Sullivan has continued. Murphy has followed up frustration with O'Sullivan at last week's UK Championship by saying the world No. 1 has fallen "some way short in terms of his ambassadorial role" with snooker. Former world champion Murphy has also told O'Sullivan that he doesn't "have to be a rebel all the time".
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Shaun Murphy has doubled down on his criticism of Ronnie O’Sullivan, telling the seven-time world champion that he "isn't bigger than snooker" and "owes the game more".
Murphy was critical of O’Sullivan at last week’s UK Championship after he said snooker was “insignificant” in his life.
The 2005 world champion said O'Sullivan fails to appreciate what it is like to struggle as a snooker player having come from an “incredibly wealthy background”.
O’Sullivan dismissed the comments as "water off my back".
But Murphy has reiterated his frustration and said O’Sullivan should do more for the sport as the leading player on tour.
“I’m sure the game doesn’t mean as much to him the same as it does to pretty much everyone else," Murphy told his
.
"But he has to remember that he’s not just representing himself out there, he is representing the game as a whole and when he damages the game, he damages it for everybody. He owes the game a little bit more than that.
"He is the game’s biggest draw, he moves the needle when he plays, they used to say that for Tiger Woods, you could see the viewing figures change when he was playing golf.
“Ronnie is exactly the same, there’s no question about that at all.
“[But] when he took that year off nearly 10 years ago, World Snooker attained their biggest level of tickets sales and viewing figures were on a par, if not better, than the year before.
“So in every measurably way snooker seemed to do OK without Ronnie O’Sullivan. He isn’t bigger than snooker.”
Murphy also said O’Sullivan has fallen short in his ambassadorial duties.
"Snooker is certainly more exciting and benefits from having someone like him in it, but you don’t have to be a rebel all the time. Sometimes it is okay to be a good ambassador and try to leave the game better than the day you took it up.
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"While Ronnie has exceeded expectations in every part of the game and facet of snooker on the table, I think he’s left himself some way short in terms of his ambassadorial role."
In response to Murphy’s original comments, O’Sullivan said last week that he was “not interested” in what anyone had to say about him.
"I absolutely vacated a long time ago.
"Some guys are just happy to be here and have a laugh and a joke, some guys just have that pure intense desire, they just love the challenge and the competition,” he added about his fellow professionals in an interview with the BBC.
"Some people thrive on it, some people don't like it. Some people like it for a while but then they just can't handle it for that long because it is not easy.
"Dealing with pressure is not an easy thing. I have just grown to enjoy it."
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