Shaun Murphy is a world-class snooker player who is known for his long potting and straight cue action. His career has seen him achieve more than 400 century breaks, including the second-highest break in the Championship League.
Murphy was ranked number 3 in the world at start to the 2008/2009 Season. However, he fell to number seven for the 2010/2011 season. In 2011 he won the Players Tour Championship and completed his career Triple Crown. Murphy was considered an underdog and Murphy won the Players Tour Championship. In 2012, Murphy reached the final of UK Championship. He was however defeated by Judd Trump.
Murphy is considered a highly skilled player. He has many firsts in his professional career. His first 147 break, first ranking title and first appearance at the World Snooker Championship are just a few of his many firsts.
He began his career with the Challenge Tour, also called the UK Tour, back in 1998. His father, Tony, was a professional golfer. He was bullied when he was a teenager. He attended homeschooling, but did not meet his mother until he turned 19. He met Elaine a year later and they were married June 2006. Despite his family's misgivings, the couple were engaged in 2014.
Shaun has earned over PS3,000,000 in prize cash during his career. He has won seven tournaments that are not ranking. He has also been a part of eight ranking tournaments reaching the quarterfinals two times.
He was ranked four in the World at the start the 2004/2005 Season. He also won the Brugge Open and Welsh Open. By this time, he had been diagnosed with Savant Syndrome, a condition in which a person with autism has superior skills.
He won the World Championship 2005. The BBC named him Sportsman of the Year the next year. After that, he became a surgical resident at the San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital in California.
Murphy struggled to communicate with others as a child. Murphy's social skills may have been affected by this. While he's had some difficult relationships, he was able to work through them. Elaine was his girlfriend when he proposed to her at an Irish restaurant.
Ray Reardon coached him when he turned 15 years old. After Ray Reardon, he worked for Steve Prest until 2006. Willie Thorne served as his coach during the 2007/2008 seasons. He won the Challenge Tour's third- and fourth events.
Murphy won the Wuxi Classic, China. Afterwards, he entered the elite top 16. His next appearance was at the inaugural Northern Ireland Trophy. Despite playing only five frames in the tournament's qualifying round, he advanced to the quarterfinals beating teenager Luca Brecel.
He then won the German Masters Championship, the Ruhr Championship, as well the inaugural Northern Ireland Trophy. He was ranked third for the entire 2008/2009 year. He reached the semis of the UK Championship and Shanghai Masters in the same season.