Shaun Murphy’s Masters form is down to one man according to former world champion John Parrott – and it isn’t the Magician himself.
Murphy made his first final since 2012 playing some scintillating snooker at Alexandra Palace, which included a sensational 147 break in his semi-final win against Mark Allen. It’s marked an upturn in fortunes for the 2005 world champion, who was dumped out of last year’s World Championships at the second round – and last won the Masters in 2015, when he completed a career Triple Crown.
However speaking on the BBC prior to his final with Kyren Wilson, pundit and former pro John Parrot said that Murphy’s coach was behind the Magician rediscovering his magic at the table. He said: “Peter Ebdon has been the technician. You know when you’ve got a problem at home and the tech man comes in? Well he’s come round and has completely rebooted Shaun Murphy.
“His concentration has been fantastic, there haven’t been the glitches where he’s made breaks of 30 or 40 and then thrown a lifeline to his opponent. He’s been making 70s, 80s and 100s. Honestly Peter Ebdon has turned him around.” Murphy agreed, telling the BBC after his quarter-final win against Neil Robertson: “The one thing Peter has given me, helped me find, is my belief, actually I can do this. It’s easy to let those negative thoughts creep in where you’ve had a few bad results, where you’ve not been lifting the trophies. It’s easy for those negatives to take over, and of course no one was more positive in their career than Peter and he’s really helped me rediscover my belief.”
The Magician also believes he’s recapturing some of the magic he showed a decade ago, saying: “I played some magical snooker really throughout the week I won it and if I’m honest I’ve been trying to recapture that for ten years. In the grand pantheon of things I’ve had a really good career, I’m proud of what I’ve achieved and I don’t think I’m finished yet.
“It’s very hard to accept anything other than winning when you have won them. It’s hard to see losing in the semis or a final as success because what you want is a repeat of the success you had when you lifted trophies.”