Stephen Hendry has credited Shaun Murphy for adding a darker side to his game.
The Magician was in superb form at the Masters, but has cut a far steelier figure at the table during crunch moments – earning praise from Scots snooker hero Hendry, who said he previously considered Murphy to be too much of a poser during major events. The seven time world champion, working as a pundit for the BBC commented: “Shaun said at the UK Championships that he was too nice. He certainly looks an angrier snooker player out there, a more determined snooker player.
“Shaun was guilty in the past, I thought, of posing a little bit. He’d be looking about smiling, I always thought he needed a bit of nastiness. A mean Shaun Murphy could be a dangerous proposition. I’ve looked at Shaun sitting in his chair and he’s very rarely taken his eye off the table. Normally he’d be looking all over the place. He’d still win matches, don’t get me wrong, but there’s definitely been a change. He should be focusing on the win and nothing else.
Steve Davis meanwhile added: “We can read a lot into stuff, but we know how well (coach) Peter Ebdon concentrated at the table. I bet the atmosphere in the dressing room is different. And maybe that’s changing the equation.”
Murphy himself meanwhile has previously slammed other players for not interacting with the crowd during games, saying: “I’ve been consistent in my confusion around other players and their lack of interaction with the crowd. If you went to the West End and at the end of the show the cast just walked off, you would feel a little hard done to.”
The Magician, who joked he would’ve been a stage performer if he hadn’t made it in snooker, continued: “I suppose I am a bit of a performer and maybe if I wasn’t a snooker player, maybe I would’ve found my way into that kind of world. So, I think it’s important to give the crowd everything you can as well. They give you their support. The crowd were unbelievable today. It would’ve been weird if I’d just walked off.”