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Qualifier Murphy wraps up fairytale final win
Shaun Murphy won the world snooker championship, beating Matthew Stevens 18-16 in the best of 35 frame final at the Crucible Theatre, to complete one of the biggest upsets in the sport's history. Murphy, a 150-1 outsider when the tournament started, became the first qualifier to win the event since Terry Griffiths back in 1979. In the final frame, Stevens had Murphy in trouble with a snooker that almost saw Murphy forfeit the frame after he twice missed an attempted escape. The Welshman was then first in with a break of 19 but broke down when he missed a routine pot and Murphy, 22, won with a break of 83 which featured a superb black along the cushion.
"It's a privilege to be world champion," Murphy told the BBC. "I'm so glad I got over the line. I couldn't get away from Matthew no matter how well I played, I managed to string a few frames together. "People have been saying over the last two weeks that I have been looking quite calm and taking things in my stride, but if they had asked me I was shaking like a leaf." A sporting Stevens added: "He (Murphy) was just too good." Murphy, 10-6 behind overnight, rallied to go 16-14 ahead. However, sixth seed Stevens, the losing finalist in 2000 and three times a semi-finalist in the last four years, took the next two, including a break of 124 in the 31st frame. Murphy, from nearby Rotherham, northern England, then inched ahead again with a break of 97 before completing his remarkable victory. En route to the final he beat former world champions John Higgins, Steve Davis and Peter Ebdon but still found himself four frames adrift when play began on Monday. He badly needed a good start if he was to prevent Stevens, the former winner of the UK and Masters titles, running away to complete a full set of snooker's biggest prizes. And he got it, a 51 break helping him win the 17th frame before a contribution of 56 in the next reduced Stevens's lead to 10-8. After a tense few frames, Murphy was at his fluent best in the 21st, a total clearance of 137 leaving Stevens just 11-10 ahead. Murphy then showed he could play battling snooker too, holding his nerve in the 22nd frame - the longest of the match so far at 41 minutes - by potting the final three colours after Stevens had missed a blue in an attempt to gain good position. Stevens then won just his second frame of the session with a 52 break to edge ahead. Murphy, who had never even won a match at the Crucible prior to this tournament, took three of the opening four frames of the evening session to turn a 12-11 deficit into a 14-13 advantage, making a break of 107 when play re-started. And another half-century from Murphy enabled him to move ahead for the first time since the opening frame of the match. Stevens was not at his best but responded with a superb red down the rail to start a frame-winning 95 break. Eventually a break of 64 took Murphy to within two frames of the title only for Stevens to keep the pressure on with a break of 124 in the next. Stevens's 52 then made the match a best of three shoot-out but Murphy held his nerve superbly to ensure there was no need for a final frame decider.
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