Shaun Murphy moonwalks into Welsh Open final to fans’ delight – but loses 9-7

Former world snooker champ Shaun Murphy proved he is a man of his word as he channeled Michael Jackson by moonwalking into the Welsh Open final.

But it was to be 125-1 tournament outsider Robert Milkins who would have the last laugh after a Thriller in Llandudno.

Murphy, 40, vowed he would moonwalk to his chair if he was to reach the final on a recent podcast, and doubled down after his semi-final victory on Saturday.

The crowd at Venue Cymru were clearly anticipating his arrival and gave The Magician a huge cheer when his name was read out by the announcer.

READ MORE: Snooker star fined for ‘extreme drunken behaviour’ wins Welsh Open title

Murphy duly delivered on his promise as he shuffled to the sound of Burn Baby Burn, much to the delight of the crowd and fans on social media.

One fan @Doolan666 posted on Twitter: “Probably one of my favourite players now. Doesn’t mind laughing at himself and genuinely seems like a nice guy.”

But that turned out to be the highlight of Murphy’s night as he was left ruing a series of unforced errors having led 2-0 and 3-1, before Milkins eventually prevailed 7-5.

He said afterwards: “I didn’t play my best. I made too many errors and Rob picked up the pieces. I left it all out there and couldn’t have tried any harder, I just could have played a bit better!

“Rob was by far the better player and all credit to him. He was just better over the course of the day. He fully deserved the victory.”

World No.1 Ronnie O’Sullivan wasn’t particularly impressed with Murphy’s display. He told Eurosport: “He doesn’t win enough tournaments for me, with his game.

“I don’t know what it is, whether it’s a lack of killer instinct or something. Sometimes you’ve got to be a bit nasty on the table and he doesn’t look like he’s had it”

Murphy will be back in action as early as Tuesday as faces off against Mark Selby in the first round of the Players Championship.

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