Shaun Murphy previews his World Championship campaign

I’m here with the magician Sean Murphy at the Crucible. Sean, how are you? I’m good. How are you? Oh, very well. Thank you. Walking through the Crucible doors. Special time of the year, isn’t it? Very special. It’s been talked about forever that Dr. Whichever way you come from, but as soon as you come down those roads into Sheffield, the old heart starts going, the memories start going. Great to be in this famous building once again and reminding it was that door just there. It’s not good for TV but it’s just over there. Walk through that door as a nine year old boy in 1992 and it’s still a special. Who did he watch up there? I watched Peter Eben make his debut against Stone Dance and we’ve driven up from Earth Number in Northants, where Wellington, there was the next town where Peter lived, right? So my father and I jumped in with a load of Epping supporters and we were, we were sneakily supporting Steve Davis, ponytailed ponytail running around the table, just went for everyone to get some kind of green sparkly waves. Maybe that was where I got my sparkly inspiration from some of my suits. But I remember sitting there, it bit me. I was hooked. And the rest is history. It is nice to hear I’m here going to say this. And you’ve seen everything in the game. Butterflies for there, for this place 100%. Yeah. I must admit I get butterflies every time I play. Like pretty much, certainly in the majors anyway. You know, they’re all special. You walk out the barbecue and the masters at Alley Pally. And of course, here, they’re almost stand alone events on the rest of the tour. And you know, those little few minutes backstage in the dressing room, I’d happily skip those. Like to just be transported out there. It’s like watching people jump out of the plane and you go, oh, I’m going to be next. It’s going to be, oh, no, there’s me too. I don’t want to go. Before you know it, you’re out. Yeah. It’s great out there. It’s great to do it. And I’m so lucky that, you know, I came here. 9 year old had that dream. He wanted to play here. And I’ve been lucky enough to play here for many, many years. I think that’s right. They often get the TV shot at the back where you stood in front of that board of the previous winners. And it’s great TV because nothing’s really being said, but a lot has been said in the eyes. It’s for me, yeah. I think if a picture could tell 1000 words, couldn’t it? Yeah. And it’s probably a good thing. I’m not sure there’s microphones on the camera because I’m not sure it’s a good thing. Some of the things that get said backstage can’t be heard, I can assure you. But those cameras, they have them in the dressing rooms as well, don’t they? Towards the end of the event and the, the the BBC always come and ask us permission if it’s OK to put them in because there’ll be all sorts going on here. But yeah, so the, the, the nerves and the tension is palpable backstage. There are some famous stories of players who shall remain names but that have been physically seen backstage, such as the nerves and. Yeah, it’s not for the faint artist, No. And we’ll come to your draw. What was your initial reaction to in the name? Come out of the hat? I suppose you know, I there there was. I was suppose I was just relieved that I’ve dodged the grenades that were Stephen McGuire and John Bazausky. I think when Neil Robertson lost, with no disrespect as a sorry Neil, if you’re watching a sorry, but like when Neil lost, I think we all went, Oh my God, because that would have been that’s not just a banana film. That’s like a nuclear warhead, isn’t it? You know, a former champion, Neil Robertson, Isn’t it bonkers to think that he had to qualify and didn’t, of course. And Jamie Jones played incredibly well in terms of looking at my draw. I think the days of, oh, I’ve got a good draw. I think those days have gone. And you know, Sham has proved himself very much in the few seasons he’s beat me, I’ve beat him. I’ve no reason to doubt it could be a really good match. She’d be very sharp having come through the qualifiers. I haven’t competed since Yushan, I’ve missed a couple of events, so who knows. I’m going to try my best. I’ve lost in the first round here the last two years so I don’t want to repeat that. But of course, you know, last season I came here as one of the favourites to win the whole thing and got dumped out in round one. So I don’t want to repeat that, but I’m going to try. And if you do want to repeat, three years ago, the final, it came here with not much expectation, not much of A season yet. It’s easily done again, isn’t it? It’s not easily done, but you can do it. Yeah. No, I I’d say, you know, it’s still in the memory bank. So I can still remember how to do it. I haven’t forgotten how to do it. And there have been moments this season where I’ve played really nicely. I have one of my best seasons of all time. Last season picked up a couple of events, was #1 on the one year list until this event, I won the first tournament this season. People forgot that, including me. I forgot it as well and got the smallest trophy of all time. It’s like that big. This is the championship for anyone else. It’s like literally that big, isn’t it? But yeah, no, this all seems to be a distant memory now, but I have had moments this season where I’ve played nicely. I could stream them together, get a bit of good luck, get a good draw, who knows? And I think you’re the right line to ask that because there’s something I think finalists here, if you don’t lift the trophy, incredibly underrated. He’s almost entirely forgotten and lead rub the runners up and yeah, you’re one time world champion, brilliant. But four finals is some effort and I think that gets forgotten about. Yeah, well, you’re very kind to say thank you. It is. It is one of the things I’m actually quietly proud of because there, there are, there are lots of, there are players of course who’ve been to more. Absolutely. It’s got a massive issue. And during my career since it’s been 19 years since so far since winning it, I’ve tried every year to put a second trophy against my I’ve managed it yet. And but of course I’ve lived through the O’Sullivan here and Higgins here and over here, you know, it’s been a tough few years. And of course my 3 finals I’ve lost since so five were great matches as well. And all credit to the guys I lost to. But, you know, I keep trying, keep hoping I’m here, someone’s going to win it. I love it to be me. Yeah. And you said, you said you place a good stuff feeling all around in the game. You know, you probably come here feeling better, probably come here feeling worse. But OK. Yeah. Do you know, I always practice. I always prepare properly. I always give 100%. No one could ever question my commitment to the game. No one ever. No one ever has ever said or don’t think Sean tried his best on that particular day. I’ve never give up. I don’t intend to. I’m not a quitter. I’m going to keep trying, keep going. And who knows? Someone in 17 days will be. And the big question, the last bit, how sparkly is the suit going to be on a scale of 1:00 to 10:00? Well, it will surprise nobody to know that I’ve come with multiple suit options. Who are these players who only bring one suit? I mean ones with no diners on them at all. That’s the question. I mean, what is what are people doing? No, I’ve brought multiples. The sparkly Sue is sparkly, as people know. They’ve seen it before. It’s here. It’s in the hotel room hanging up and I’d love to get the opportunity to wear it. I probably won’t wear it until much later in the talk. OK. My hope is that I will get to wear it plain and not at the wrap party. Brilliant. Best of luck, Sean.