‘Stupid game’ – Ex-world champ Shaun Murphy slams snooker and reveals why tennis and golf stars have it much easier
SHAUN MURPHY has slammed his own sport of snooker as “stupid”, trying to explain just how difficult it is to be a top cueist.
Murphy, 42, has already reached the top of the game when he won the World Championship back in 2005, but he still reckons it’s one of the hardest sports in the world to master.
The Magician hasn’t won a World Championship since, but is still a 12-time ranking title winner and currently sits 14th in the world rankings while balancing playing with punditry.
He returned to the winners’ circle with a huge win at The Masters this year, putting himself back in the conversation as one of the sport’s top players.
But despite seemingly being one of the most talented potters around, Murphy reckons snooker is about as hard as it gets in sport – claiming that sports like golf and tennis are much easier.
He told the Onefourseven Podcast: “You don’t have to go very far to be totally gone in snooker. You only have to just not quite be perfectly tuned in to be completely off.
“There was a great piece actually shown later in the Championship on the BBC from a guy who is a wellness coach and a mindfulness coach.
“And he was talking about how in snooker, when you do struggle… obviously there are fine motor skills involved in being a snooker player with the touch and feel and those little touch shots and little traces of sidespin.
“You’re not using your big muscles, you’re using those fine motor muscles like the finger tips and stuff. It’s very hard to retain that touch and feel when you’re twitching all over the place, to put it mildly.
“If a tennis player or a golfer is feeling nervous, they can move the big muscles and they can hit the ball with force and they can get that pent up anxiety out a little bit.
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“We can’t really do that and you end up making a mistake and you overhit this little ball. You overhit it by an inch and it’s all over.
“It’s quite a hard game really when you think about it. It’s a stupid game, snooker – a totally stupid game and it’s also very difficult.”
Despite those comments, Murphy has managed to pull off the perfect frame from time to time – notching 10 maximums throughout his career.
He’s always been vocal in suggesting that snooker is the hardest of the bunch, and even claims to have managed a 147, a nine-darter and a hole-in-one.
Murphy even took part in Paddy Power’s Perfect Challenge that saw two darts players, two snooker players and two golfers attempt the pinnacle of their respective sports in one day.
During that challenge Murphy called darts world No.1 Luke Humphries “a comedian” for suggesting that a 147 is easier than a nine-darter.
Murphy came out on top as the only player to successfully achieve their feat, making a 147 with less than 15 minutes remaining of the challenge.