Shaun Murphy cannot wait to play his ‘Mini-Me’ Stan Moody on tour next season after snooker’s new wonder-kid secured a pro card.
Halifax’s Moody, 16, beat York’s Liam Pullen 5-1 at the WSF Under-18 Championship in Sydney to book his place on the circuit from the summer. Former world champion Murphy, 40, was asked by Moody’s family last year to help mentor the hugely talented prospect.
And world No11 Murphy, who himself first turned pro at 15, believes England finally has prospects to rival those emerging in China and Wales.
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Moody, who won a tour Shootout match at 15 last year, will also be given a wild-card place for this season’s World Championship qualifiers in April with a chance to reach the Crucible. And a striking physical resemblance between the pair sees Moody jokingly calling Murphy ‘Dad’ when they meet.
After a taking massive career step forward, Moody said: “It means everything to me to get the tour card. I treated the trip as a holiday that involved snooker – and it has paid off.
“My dad has done everything for me, paid for everything and taken me everywhere so I’m very grateful to him. The first two years on tour there is no pressure on me, it is just experience.
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“I love Judd Trump, I’d like to say I play like him in certain ways. And it would be great to play him and the other top players next season.”
Murphy said: “It will be great when I get to play Stan in a proper tournament on tour. Having practiced already, I know he would love to stick it up me – but that’s a good problem to have.
“There is more than a passing physical resemblance…I have checked my diary and I was nowhere near Halifax or Huddersfield 17 years ago! So my conscience is clear.
“It doesn’t help that he calls me ‘Dad’ everywhere, he really plays up to it. I think even his father Nigel has started doing it.
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“Stan has all the ability in the world, and on that ability alone he could be a top player in the game. He is one of the quickest learners I have seen, and if you are good enough, you are old enough.
“And who’s to say he might not come through World Championship qualifying and it will be Moody v Murphy at the Crucible. It is very exciting to see Stan winning that event and getting onto the tour. And let’s not forget Liam as well, who won’t be far behind him.
“One of the main questions I get asked is ‘Where is the next young English winner coming from?’. And in Stan and Liam we have two right there. There must be something in the water in Yorkshire.
“They are both fantastic players, and the future of snooker is in good hands with those two. Stan’s family approached me a year ago to help mentor him in any way I could. He already has a fabulous team around him, a very professional set-up for one that age.
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“His father Nigel leads it, he has a mental coach in Noel Flannery who has a number of tour pros on his books, and Neil Johnson from Liverpool is his coach.
“I was honoured to be asked because but for the guidance of senior pros when I was that young like Nigel Bond, Peter Ebdon, and Jason Ferguson I might not be here now. There is huge potential there.
“I fell off the tour after that first year before coming back stronger, as did Neil Robertson so even if Stan does – and he may not – it just doesn’t matter. So what. There isn’t any real pressure on him.”
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