The Shaun Murphy trick shot from the 2017 World Championship will go down as one of the most memorable hits for years to come. Whether it was because of the Crucible setting, his opponent, the stunned reaction of the crowd/commentary box or the smooth walk-away, this exquisite pool-like shot brought another level of excitement to the WSC that year.
It was the second round of the WSC as Murphy found himself 3-1 down against veteran, Ronnie O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan had just played an impressive long, two-ball plant with the cue ball coming back up the table next to the yellow. However, O’Sullivan didn’t play the ‘nestle behind a colour’ snooker too well to leave Murphy fully snookered. Although, it was awkward enough to block the view of the main bunch, leaving a line of sight only on the red at the left centre pocket (which couldn’t be cut in).
Murphy quickly established that the red couldn’t be cut it so the only other option would be to go up and down the table. Much like Steve Davis said in commentary, this was a relatively safe shot to play given that if Murphy missed, he wouldn’t be leaving the red on unless he massively under-hit the shot. The problem with the up and down though, is that the yellow was blocking the cue ball slightly enough so that the bottom/black cushion couldn’t be hit naturally.
So in the minute and a half that Murphy spent thinking on this shot, he was visualising exactly how the cue ball would react coming off the cushions while the rest of us were trying to think about a possible escape route. Once it was clear in his mind what kind of shot he wanted to attempt, it was now a matter of practice.
With an extreme amount of right hand side – which can be classed as check side, in this case due to the resultant impact – Murphy struck so the cue ball impacted the left side cushion first. Now, while it may not look like that had an angular effect when it bounced off the side cushion, it already slowed the pace of the cue ball down a little bit, hence the check side. But the bottom cushion is where the spin really took effect. When the cue ball came off the bottom cushion, the right hand side in effect pulled itself back up the table towards the left hand side where it was able to impressively nudge the red in the left centre.
If there was no side applied the cue ball would have follow the natural angle and likely ended up around or just above the blue. However, the shot was played with right hand side; so much in fact, that the cue ball bounced off the left side cushion on its way back up. Murphy may or may not have accounted for this extra bounce since had it not occurred, chances are the cue ball would have followed a straight line back up to knock the red in regardless.
The fact that Murphy succeeded in his method on his first attempt in a manner that no one was really expecting meant that he received a loud response from the audience and commentators alike. John Virgo and Davis particularly, were racking their brains trying to figure out what Murphy was thinking, as well as trying to find a path out themselves. My favourite moment during commentary was when Davis just flat out went ‘now, what’s he doing?’ Please always do commentary, Steve.
But were there alternative shots? The shots that Virgo and Davis were talking about where Murphy could have played safe off the red would have certainly sent the red up the table due to how close it was to the bottom jaw of the centre pocket. The only other possible option would have been a two-cushion escape with running (left) side off the reds near the pink. Though this would have been just as technically difficult as the shot he played. In fact, it could have been more risky because if it was hit too thick, he would have left O’Sullivan the furthest right red on the table.
So it was actually a choice shot in terms of risk and reward. When Murphy cleverly thought of it, he potentially had the mind-set of giving it one or two attempts then trying one of the alternative shots, depending on how close he got. But the fact that he nailed it first time to everyone’s surprise, with a shot that goes against the natural angles, while at the Crucible against O’Sullivan…well, it just deserved Shot of the Championship that year.
If he missed his attempt and then got it on the second or third, expectations would have been slightly dampened as the audience knew what he was going for. But it wasn’t, and that’s what made it special. And to those who criticise the shot for how easy it was are probably the same people who spend multiple attempts at their club trying to recreate the shot on camera, let alone in the circumstances that Murphy achieved it in.
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