Murphy praises World Snooker's coronavirus donation promise

Shaun Murphy hailed the World Snooker Tour for their charitable donations to help victims of the coronavirus.

The Nottingham-based potter made light work of his opening match at the ManBetX Welsh Open with a convincing 4-0 win over home favourite Darren Morgan, continuing his impressive form after reaching the semi-finals at both the Dafabet Masters and German Masters.

The result came after news emerged that the World Snooker Tour were planning on donating £1,000 per century break at the competition to aid those affected by the disease in China.

And the world No.10, a devout Christian and a well-renowned charitable individual, praised Barry Hearn’s organisation for their admirable promise.

“It’s a great initiative - you can see everyone getting involved across the world,” the 37-year-old said.

“Bill Gates and his wife gave one hundred million dollars or whatever - I know Barry is a little bit behind Bill Gates but it’s great to see the World Snooker Tour getting involved and trying to do the right thing.

“We have a complete worldwide-represented tour here, so there may well be people on this tour whose friends or family are caught up in this disaster.

“We can only do our best, so this is a lovely little gesture that World Snooker are trying to do.”

The 2005 world champion has enjoyed a positive season on the table, winning the China Championship and demonstrating a remarkable turnaround from his toils of last year.

And after the eight-time ranking event winner only progressed past the third round of a major event on a single occasion last term, he believes he has pinpointed the reasons for his turnaround.

“My turnaround in form is just down to hard work really, as well as some serious conversations with my coach and those whose advice I value,” he added.

“We decided that while we were reinventing the wheel, we would take the engine apart and completely change the things we always wanted to change but never had the time to.

“I feel like we’re starting to see those green shoots starting to come through now.

“I think me and a few of the other guys have probably got one eye on Sheffield and the World Championship now, but there’s lots of snooker to be played and it would be great to peak just before Sheffield.”

Watch the Welsh Open live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds