Shaun Murphy reveals he was ready to quit sport - 'Do I have a career in snooker any more?'
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ByEurosport
Updated 30/03/2023 at 07:13 GMT
Shaun Murphy is relishing chasing glory at the Tour Championship in Hull this week after returning to peak form by ending his three-year title drought at the Players Championship with a 10-4 final win over Ali Carter. The world No. 6 is second favourite behind Mark Selby for the £150,000 first prize in Hull before he chases a second Crucible title at the 47th World Championship in Sheffield.
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Shaun Murphy has revealed he was ready to quit playing snooker after struggling with loss of form, weight gain and mental health issues over the past few years.
Murphy ended a three-year wait for a ranking title with a blistering performance at the Players Championship that culminated in a 10-4 triumph against Ali Carter in Wolverhampton earlier this month.
The 2005 world champion is a 7/2 shot behind 5-2 title favourite Mark Selby ahead of the season's penultimate ranking tournament at this week's Tour Championship in Hull before he chases a second Crucible title in Sheffield next month (15 April-1 May LIVE on Eurosport and discovery+).
It has been a dramatic turnaround for Murphy, who underwent gastric sleeve surgery to tackle weight issues after losing 10-8 to Stephen Maguire in the first round of the World Championship last April.
The man dubbed 'The Magician' felt he was back on the right path at the UK Championship in November despite losing 6-1 to an inspired Jack Lisowski in the quarter-finals.
He was narrowly defeated 9-7 by Robert Milkins in the Welsh Open final before claiming his 10th career ranking title at the elite 16-man Players event that included running in 11 blistering centuries from an overall haul of 25 compiled.
“There have been a lot of moments of self-evaluation, really asking if I am on the right path," said Murphy in an interview with The Yorkshire Post. "Do I have a career in snooker any more? Is it worth pursuing because you spend a lot of time away from your wife and children? Is it worth it?
“Probably at the UK Championship (last November, in York) I saw some green shoots of improvement, and that was enough for me, to show I was on the right path.
“The form that I showed at the Players Championship in Wolverhampton, if you could bottle that we would all be a lot happier."
Murphy, who has also lost world finals in 2009, 2015 and 2021, hopes life begins at 40 as he prepares to face Milkins in the first round of the Tour Championship in a repeat of their Welsh Open over the best-of-19 frames on Wednesday.
He admits a weight has been lifted off his mind after taking on board the comments of six-time world champion Steve Davis to shed the excess timber.
"There’s a lot of gastric surgery you can have and this is probably the most extreme. I wish I had done it years ago," said Murphy.
“I have battled with my weight all my life, and at the back end of last year’s World Championship my weight had ballooned to the heaviest I had ever been.
“It was definitely affecting my game, definitely affecting my health.
“I already had the surgery booked in, but saw an interview with Steve Davis at the Crucible. He was actually talking about another player, not about me, who was struggling with his weight.
“Steve made the comment that a lot of players pay the price on the table, but they are not paying the price off the table.
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“They are not in great shape, they are not physically fit, they are not healthy. They can’t reach over the table, they are not slim. These things aren’t as important in snooker as they are in gymnastics, but they are important.
“Steve made the point, if you look at players over the history of the game, the ones who have been successful, they all have that thing in common.
“I already had the surgery booked at that time, but remember thinking I have definitely done the right thing. It has completely changed my life."
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