Shaun Murphy branded 'a wally' by Kyren Wilson as snooker star says he 'couldn't breathe' at key moment in Masters clash
Shaun Murphy has been labelled "a wally" after flunking the chance of a 147 at the Masters.
The Magician was in sensational form as he defeated Neil Robertson, who had knocked out Scots star John Higgins in the first round, 6-2 at Alexandra Palace to book his spot in the semi-finals, and the snooker star almost finished in superb style as he got to the brink of a maximum - only to make a mess of it on the blue. MC Rob Walker started his interview by saying simply: "So close, so close!"
2005 world champion Murphy laughed: "I couldn't breathe, I just couldn't. I set one of my targets for the season as making a max in one of the triple crown events. I was telling myself come on, this is a good chance. Obviously anywhere but there. Goodness me. It was exciting, but the most important thing was that it would've been a great present as it's my mum's birthday today.
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"I've produced little bits and pieces, but not when it mattered. You're going up against a two time winner here in Neil, a real classy player, and when you play one of the greats, an all-timer, then you've got to be at your best. And that was somewhere near my best. I'm delighted, really pleased. The crowd keep getting better here, year on year, match on match. I'm sorry I couldn't deliver the 147, but we march on. We've got more attempts, we keep going."
When the BBC coverage cut back to the studio, world champion Kyren Wilson said: "What a wally! Fancy snookering yourself on the blue. But what an effort, it was a fantastic performance. Neil will be walking away thinking he didn't do much wrong. Shaun's all-round match play was fantastic, his break building was great. Getting the 147 would've been the icing on the cake."
Pundit John Parrott added: "It's as good as I've seen him play, if you play like that you take a world of beating from anybody. He was absolutely magnificent, it's a great shame that he didn't finish with a maximum." However Murphy was still beating himself up as he walked into the studio, blurting out: "What an idiot! Anywhere but there I'd love to have another go at that one. I did exactly the same at the Welsh Open against Mark Williams one time, exactly the same shot. You'd think I would've learned."
