Shaun Murphy says he's been trying to play "magical snooker" for a decade without success.

But the Magician hopes that will change at the Masters this year, as he attempts to win a first major title in 10 years with success at Alexandra Palace. And his chances have already been given a boost, after Ronnie O'Sullivan's shock withdrawal just 48 hours before he was due to face John Higgins in the opening game.

Snooker star Murphy revealed that he has been working for a decade to recapture the "magical feeling" he had during a dominant spell a decade ago, and is determined to get that back as he faces Gary Wilson in the first round on January 12. He told SportsBoom: "I wish anniversaries were written in the stars, but sadly I don’t think it works like that. When I started attending the Masters as a child and went to the Wembley Conference Centre to watch it the Triple Crown wasn’t a thing. It has since then become a big deal. To complete it at the Masters, which is somewhere I went every year to watch, was special. I’ll always remember that very fondly.

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“It was the win that completed my Triple Crown set so that was extra pressure on it from that point of view. I very nearly lost my first match to Mark Selby having led 5-1. I scrambled over the line at the end, but from then I never looked back. I played some magical snooker really throughout the week and if I’m honest I’ve been trying to recapture that for ten years.”

This year will mark the ten-year anniversary of Murphy completing the Triple Crown with a 10-2 thrashing of Neil Robertson to lift the famous Masters trophy. The 42-year-old is still ranked in the world’s top eight but has failed to add to his major tally in the past decade, losing the 2015 and 2021 World Championship finals. Last year it was Ronnie O’Sullivan who stopped him in his tracks at Ally Pally, beating a determined Murphy in the semi-finals on route to his record-extending eighth title. But Murphy feels he isn't getting the credit he deserves for his achievements.

He continued: "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.

“But, I think a few other players are starting to realise what an achievement it is to get to these major finals. Judd (Trump) said at the UK Championship that it was his fourth UK final and he didn’t think he got the credit he deserved for that. To some degree I might say the same. I’ve been to three UK finals, two Masters finals and four World Championship finals — that’s pretty good. Most people are calling that a really good career.”