Ahead of the Crucible, the announcer discussed Shaun Murphy’s form, Ronnie O’Sullivan’s future in the sport and whether the World Championship will leave Sheffield.
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How have you rated Shaun Murphy’s season so far and can he win another world title?
If you look, last season he won the Championship League and that was the only final he got to all year. He got to the semi-finals of the Masters but he didn’t reach any other quarter-final or semi-final of a ranking event.
This season, five ranking event quarter-finals, two semi-finals, a runner-up in the Shanghai Masters and won the Masters. From an earnings perspective, this is his most successful season ever with the Tour Championship and World Championship still to come. It’s been an incredible season. I think Peter Ebdon has had an incredible impact on that and you can’t look at those results and think something hasn’t changed. But he’s very settled in himself, very happy in his skin and is happy where his game is. If you look at it, it is taking monster performances for someone to beat him.
We’ve just seen Judd Trump has knocked him out of the Players Championship and he whitewashed him. Judd played impeccable snooker; there’s only the first frame that Shaun had a look in. Joe O’Connor over in China was amazing and played the best he had ever played against Shaun. Neil Robertson in Hong Kong beat him and came back from 5-3 to win 6-5 and Shaun didn’t pot a ball in those last three frames because Neil was that good at the table clearing up.
That’s where snooker is at right now. The top players can whitewash anyone including Shaun if they get to the table because they can pot all of the balls. That’s where the sport is, the snooker being played is off the charts right now. He has had a great season so far and with two events left, there’s nothing to say he can’t do something more special.
I don’t see why not. The World Championship is as open as it has ever been though who can win the tournament. We haven’t seen Ronnie, he’s pulled out of so many events and whether he turns up or not I don’t know but if he is there, he is there to beat, and you can’t discount that. If you look at the top 16, Judd Trump is world number one and nearly won £2m this year which is ridiculous. He has to be the favourite to win at the Crucible.
Defending champion Kyren Wilson, world number two, number three is Mark Selby and number four is Ronnie O’Sullivan. You have Mark Williams at number five and Luca Brecel at number six who won the World Championship two years ago before Mark Allen, Ding, Shaun. Jack Jones, finalist of the Crucible last year, is world number 18 and will have to qualify for Sheffield this year. Who’s to say if he can qualify that he won’t win it this year? The talent is ridiculous.
Will Ronnie O’Sullivan play at the Crucible?
If Ronnie is there then he is there to win that’s all you can say about it. Do I think he will be there? I have no idea. The last time he was playing was at Leicester for the Champions League and he smashed his cue up and left it in the bin. I’ve heard from a couple of guys who do TV coverage that when they are covering tournaments, Ronnie is at the practice table all the time and I don’t doubt that for a second. But you just don’t know. If he is there, Ronnie is the man to beat. He has eight Masters, eight UK Championships and seven Worlds. He will want to beat Stephen Hendry’s record. It wouldn’t surprise me if he plays and wins it but it wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t turn up.
There’s no question he is the greatest, even Stephen Hendry acknowledges that. But if Ronnie was to come back and win in Sheffield that would be one of the greatest achievements. Over 10 years ago, he took 12 months off and won the Worlds so there’s everything to say he can do it. It would be an incredible achievement if he won it.
Could the World Championships leave Sheffield after 2027?
It’s very difficult. It is the biggest tournament on the tour and being a very proud Yorkshireman I would love to see it stay in Sheffield but with my business hat on, it needs a bigger venue. I would love it to stay but move to a different venue in Sheffield. There’s a lot of sentimentalists who say you can’t move from the Crucible, and it is a special thing as I’ve walked down those steps and the hairs on the back of your neck do spring up.
It is the World Championship and China have a huge sway on the snooker world. If it is to move, I would like it to be like the Open in golf where it would go back to the Crucible every four or five years with it taking place in China, Hong Kong, Saudi and Melbourne and then come back to the Crucible again. You can argue every single case, but I believe in 10 years it won’t be at the Crucible.
What player would you love to see play in this era from the past?
It has to be Jimmy White. Jimmy genuinely still believes he can win the World Championship. Jimmy is an amazing man, a great character and at his peak, he was incredible. Jimmy right now is a very, very good player and you could put Jimmy on the practice table, and he’ll clear the table. He’s a great player and has won the Seniors’ World Championship so many times already. The Masters used to have a couple of invitationals, and I said to Shaun Murphy, imagine if they brought that back and you put Jimmy in the Masters at Ally Pally in front of the electric crowd, the roof would come off the place. The reaction for Ronnie is phenomenal but if Jimmy was there it would be off the charts.
