Shaun Murphy tries the same in every frame of every match of every tournament.
His professionalism has seen him bounce back from his Crucible final defeat to John Higgins two weeks ago to win two titles in the Sportingbet.com World Series.
Last week it was the grand finals of year one. Last night he beat Jimmy White 5-1 in Killarney to win the first event of year two.
Of course, Murphy would swap them both for the World Championship trophy but he genuinely enjoys playing and these tournaments did him a favour: he could have been sat at home mulling over why he didn't perform in the Sheffield final but instead got back to the table with a fresh challenge.
The weekend was fun as snooker always is in Ireland. The crowds were large and a good time was had by all.
The World Series has quietly become a success. It doesn't have the profile of the ranking event circuit but, so far, it has made good impressions in each of the cities it has visited.
Its strength is that the events only last a couple of days and so don't outstay their welcome.
This can only be good for snooker. The sport needs as many televised tournaments as possible to keep it in the public mind.
It used to be that when the World Championship ended, snooker disappeared from our screens for five or six months.
It can only be good that those days are over.
Well done to all at world series, i can see that going from strength to strength in the years to come.
ReplyDeleteAlso a big thank you to Eurosport who's coverage of Snooker is excellent with virtually every tournament covered, long may that continue aswell.
regards
Dean.
p.s. unlucky to Mike Hallett, just missing out on a main tour place.
Those days are only over for people who can afford Eurosport.
ReplyDeleteHow much does that cost, anyway?
Not getting much publicity though is it, only 2 results showing in Google News = ESPN STAR Sports, and of course, Eurosport.
ReplyDeleteGreat result for Shaun. With Doherty falling down the rankings we need someone to carry on the traditions for Irish snooker.
ReplyDeleteIrish sport is on the up with the likes of Murphy winning last night and another youngster Lowry winning in the golf. A great day for the Irish!
Murphy is Scottish
ReplyDeletemurphy is not scottish or irish, he's welsh.
ReplyDeleteHuh? I thought Murhty was from somewhere in Yorkshire.
ReplyDeleteThese are basically invitational exhibition events which are shown on cable/satellite tv. Of course it's good we can see them but let's not make more of them than they actually are.
ReplyDeleteMurphy is Finnish. Though his great grandfather hailed from Bermuda.
ReplyDeletestuart
ReplyDeletethese are virtually identical to tournaments we had in the 80s and early 90s that went to places like hong kong,china,thailand,holland and others...
for some reason invertational events were seen as bigger back then by fans that today have got obsessed by Ranking tournaments...
yes Ranking Tournaments are the pinicle but dont lose sight that snooker during the golden age of the sport was mainly made up of invertational events.
No Murphy's is not bitter; it's a stout.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bit stout of order.
ReplyDeleteBeer-have yourself.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a load of old froth to me
ReplyDeleteMurphy is a solid Fenian name and what a proud tradition they have within the building and tarmacadam trade.
ReplyDeleteThey even got a mention on Fawlty Towers.
These jokes seem a bit mild.
ReplyDeleteShaun Murgh-phy is Indian..... and erm.... a chicken.
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean hes a chicken curry then?
ReplyDeleteNext time hes introduced to the audiance it wont be "Shaun the magician Murphy" it will be "Shaun the Madras Murphy".
ReplyDeleteDave
ReplyDeletethis is off topic but theres a whisper Eurosport wont be covering the Jiangsu Classic this year.....is it true ?
Actually whilst watching the final against Jimmy White, my dad was mentioning that Murphy was Irish. He was pulling my leg tho. Unless Murphy has some Irish background.
ReplyDeleteJenna x
I think the prize money was pretty small beer though.....
ReplyDeleteWhat was the prize money?
ReplyDeleteJenna x
Eurosport is NOT expensive, nor do you need a cable or satellite.
ReplyDeleteEveryone who has an internet connection and an amassed fortune of at least £30 can watch all Eurosport channels and extensive extra snooker coverage with good picture quality for a whole year. One can pay per month as well.
I do think it's great for all snooker fans.
some folk cannot afford that, however paltry an amount you think it is.
ReplyDeleteYou do not need to pay for Eurosport to watch the snooker, i post on many forums where you can watch for free, if you go back a few blog's to Dave's "ALL SET FOR KILLARNEY" post, i put on there at 8:29pm and 8:31pm where you could watch it for free.
ReplyDeleteI agree. There are so many people that don't like him, but you have to appreciate his professionalism.
ReplyDeleteOh come on, £30 - a year! - that's peanuts really. Skip a night out and there you have it.
ReplyDeleteI assume the price is lower in countries like romania.
add: must cost a helluvalot more to have BBC.
ReplyDelete