Shaun Murphy calls for solutions over World Snooker Champs incident that ‘ought to by no means occur’
An inquest is taking place following Shaun Murphy’s World Championship victory over Fan Zhengyi
Shaun Murphy reacts to the incident during his first round match(Image: BBC)
Shaun Murphy called for answers from the World Snooker Tour following a bizarre incident in his dramatic victory over Fan Zhengyi at the Crucible.
The pair traded blows throughout a thrilling second session, and Fan moved to the brink of victory after taking the first chance in the deciding frame. However, the 2005 World Championship winner Murphy drew on all his years of experience to nudge home with a superb break of 50.
Earlier, during the 17th frame with the score at 8-8, Murphy was left completely baffled when the lights from the adjacent table, where play had concluded, suddenly flickered on. The unexpected illumination threw Murphy off his stride, though he did pot the blue he was over and went on to win the frame.
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Murphy stood open-mouthed, visibly questioning the sudden change in lighting. His bewildered reaction drew laughter from the crowd, with Lee Walker on BBC commentary, saying: “The light has come on from the other table. Not sure how that’s come on, don’t think anyone else is coming to play on here tonight!”
After the Englishman spoke to referee Tatiana Woollaston, the light was switched off. Addressing the incident after the match, Murphy said: “We don’t ask for much as snooker players. Leave the lights off is one of them. It affected the shot, it affected the match. That was poor.
“I think World Snooker are having a bit of an inquest into how that happened because that shouldn’t happen. I hope to find out because that should never happen.
“I’ve never seen the light come on a table here. Somebody might not be employed tomorrow. I was on the blue and it really put me off because, as I was about to strike, the lights came on.
“I didn’t hit that ball as I intended. I meant to hit it a bit harder and it made me stop on it. Maybe if I’d hit the ball as I meant to I’d have been on a red better and the break might have carried on.”
After Fan forced a deciding frame, Murphy looked on the brink of elimination after finding himself 36 points adrift with just four reds remaining before the Magician produced one of the best clearances of his career.
He said: “I can’t believe I won the match from that position, the way the balls were. It’s the best break I have ever made, given what was at stake, and I am so proud. The most nerve-racking thing I have done outside snooker was my driving test and this was 50 times worse.
“I have no idea how I did it, I was preparing my losing speech. Fan played a great match and he had more than a foot in the last 16. I didn’t want to be the first seed to lose.”
Murphy’s quest for a second world title continues against Xiao Guodong, who defeated Zhou Yuelong 10-6 in the first round.
