Trophy-chasing Shaun Murphy reveals World Snooker Championship final defeat is "still living large"

Murphy was speaking to the World Snooker Tour before this week’s British Open in Cheltenham where he is the defending champion.

It seems hard to imagine now, but this time last year, Murphy was ranked outside the world’s elite top 16 players.

Following the completion of the 2025 Wuhan Open, the then-reigning Masters champion slipped to 17th in the global standings, ending his unbroken 19-year spell within the sport’s most revered bracket.

Exactly like what John Higgins did the previous season, though, Murphy immediately returned to the top 16 at the next rankings revision, following the 2025 English Open. The tournament after that, ‘The Magician’ defeated Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, and Mark Selby en route to the 2025 British Open final where he denied Anthony McGill, 10-7, to end a two-year wait for a ranking crown.

The Englishman nearly won back-to-back ranking titles on the World Snooker Tour by reaching the final of the Xi’an Grand Prix just a few weeks later, but was stopped by Mark Williams in the final.

By the end of the season, Murphy climbed to sixth in the standings, and earlier this month was in the mathematical conversation to become world number one for the first time in his career.

Murphy going for personal, and British Open snooker history

Murphy begins his British Open title defence in round one against 12-time World Women’s Snooker Champion Reanne Evans on Monday afternoon at The Centaur, with the ‘FA Cup-style’ random draw teasing a potential last 64 date with Mark Williams.

The 44-year-old - who at the recent China Open set a new world record for the most unanswered points in a professional match - has history against him this week in his quest to retain the accolade.

To date, a total of 26 British Opens have been completed, and no-one, as yet, has successfully defended the title. And on a personal note, Murphy - who has collected 13 ranking crowns throughout his illustrious career - has never won the same ranking title twice (although he is a two-time Masters invitational winner).

Tight Crucible final defeat still looms large for Murphy

Over the past twelve months, it seems that Murphy has constantly been talked about as a player in red hot form. Stats tend to back up that statement with him having won the British Open, been runner-up at the Xi’an Grand Prix, German Masters, and World Championship, and a semi-finalist at the UK Championship.

Of course, the entry that sticks out the most there is his run to a fifth World Championship final where he was within touching distance of adding to his world title from 2005. Following stunning performances during the tournament - including inflicting the ‘Crucible Curse’ on Zhao Xintong in the quarter-finals - Murphy was ousted 18-17 by Wu Yize in one of the greatest finals the blue riband event has ever seen. It was the first deciding frame world final since 2002.

Consistently going deep in competitions is one thing, but Murphy deals in lifting trophies. In his interview with the WST, Murphy revealed frustration at not winning more titles during this dependable period, and how that narrow World Championship final loss is still fresh in his memory.

"I have had two of my best ever seasons but if I'm honest I want to start filling up my trophy cabinet” said the former world number three.

"As an eight year old boy starting out in snooker I dreamed of being a winner, I didn't dream of being consistent. I have had a few near misses, none more so than the World Championship which is still living large in the back of my mind.

“It feels as though the season is now in full flow and every day is an opportunity to move closer to being ready for another trip to Sheffield in eight months.”

Consistency is key, but Murphy craves golden spell

The reason why Murphy strung together an unblemished 19-year sequence inside the world’s top 16 is because he has regularly added to his ranking event title haul over the past couple of decades.

On the all-time list of players with the most ranking crowns, Murphy is tenth. He is behind Ding Junhui (15 titles) and Neil Robertson (26) on that list, but both those cueists fell outside the top 16 in a much quicker time than Murphy did.

Murphy’s titles have largely been spread out - a span of over 20 years between his first and latest ranking honours is seriously impressive stuff - but he would like to enjoy a season where he collects a big haul.

"Over my career I have not been great at winning multiple titles in seasons. We have seen the likes of Ding Junhui and Judd Trump winning five or six in a season, I have never been near to that. It would be nice to do something silly like that.

“I have just turned 44 but judging by today's standards I have at least seven or eight years left. I feel now I'm the most complete snooker player ever been and that has come from practice and hard work."

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