Shaun Murphy makes sad admission about snooker reality – 'Why are we doing this?'
Former world snooker champion Shaun Murphy spoke openly during an interview before his run to the 2026 final
In the days before the World Snooker Championship, eventual finalist Shaun Murphy gave an honest reflection on players’ use of social media. He admitted there are times when he questions his continued presence there amid abuse from fans but has grown into an astute user of a number of platforms. Murphy, who won the world title in 2005, was arguably in the form of his life as he reached the final at the Crucible. He came up short against Wu Yize in the final but his pre-tournament comments appeared to demonstrate a willingness to reflect.
“There’s so much negativity thrown around about social media,” Murphy told Kingsman Snooker ahead of his run to the final. “And I have to say, on my day, when you’re reading the comments and they’re not very nice, sometimes I have my own moments where I think ‘Why are we doing this?’. But it’s such a great tool to be able to connect with the next generation and to try to give something back. We’re all looking at our careers going ‘How can I make snooker better? When I do end up walking away from it, hopefully in a long time, how can I make sure the game is better then than it is today’”
He continued: “We try to give as much as we possibly can, through all of our different platforms, to the next generation. Just to try to make it as fun as we possibly can, [to] connect to them on a professional level, on a personal level…
“I have to give credit to my fiancee… it’s all Jo. It’s not me. Obviously the content is me playing snooker but Jo’s the passion behind it.
“She’s driving it, she’s got the phone out, she’s recording, she’s putting it all together. The unsung hero of it all.”
Murphy, 43, hadn’t got beyond the second round in Sheffield in any of his appearances between 2022 and 2025. It was a different story this time, though.
After scraping past Fan Zhengyi 10-9 in the opening round he demolished Xiao Guodong 13-3 and then bested former champions Zhao Xintong and John Higgins. That took him into a fifth World Championship final but Wu pipped him in a final frame decider to win 18-17.
"I have nothing but admiration for him and the style of play, the way he goes about it,” the Essex-born pro said of Wu, who moved to the UK from China aged 16. “He's an absolute inspiration to everyone who wants to be a snooker player.
"Talent does nothing without hard work. You must give all the players from China absolute credit for the amount of graft and hard work they put in.”
