Wu celebrates ‘special moment’ after clinching International Championship title
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Shaun Murphy launched a withering attack on Champion of Champions event organisers following his defeat to Lei Peifan on Monday afternoon.Murphy has been one of the form players of the season, with a title to his name at the British Open, but he looked well off the pace in a 4-1 defeat in Leicester.
The loss came on the back of his run to the quarter-finals of the International Championship in China last week, and Murphy took issue with Matchroom Sport for putting him on first on Monday.
“I have to say that I pride myself on conducting myself as professionally as I possibly can, and treat the game with an incredible amount of respect, and I think the way I’ve been treated by Matchroom in this tournament is nothing short of despicable,” Murphy told ITV Sport.
“In a tournament where they hand-pick the draw and hand-pick the groups, to find out that I was playing today – halfway through a 36-hour marathon journey home from China – just 48 hours ago…”
Mark Allen, Alfie Burden and defending champion Mark Williams did not play in China, and Murphy felt there was scope to have that trio plus a player who departed early last week to be on first.
“There were three other players in this tournament who were not even in China last week,” Murphy said. “For me to be thrown out first is nothing short of despicable.
“I think they have covered themselves in a huge embarrassment by treating me with such disrespect.”
Asked if he was given input on the scheduling, Murphy replied: “None whatsoever. In fact, I only found out today at breakfast that I was playing first at 1pm, so poor has been the communication.
“I am shocked. I have been used to Matchroom being a well-run organisation.
“The way they have treated me in this event with the format is extremely unprofessional.
“My beef is not with anyone else. My beef is that Mark Williams, Mark Allen and Alfie Burden were not even in China.
“Matchroom hand-pick this event. They had no need to pick the draws and make the format the way they did. They could have put those three in the same group with somebody else who was not in China as long as the rest of us. And they could have played today, and should have been playing today.
“It has made a total mockery of the event and an embarrassment of me.”
Wu lifts International Championship trophy – ‘Going to need a well supported mantelpiece’
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Matchroom were contacted for a response to Murphy’s interview and defended the process, while saying feedback would be used to improve the format.
The statement read: “We spoke with Shaun after his match and completely understand his frustrations.
“Our priorities are the players and we take pride in the fact they consider this event prestigious and want to prepare for it.
“For transparency and fairness, the groups are based on seeding. Scheduling is always a challenge every year and we take on board the points and will always strive to improve for next year and the future.”
Wu reminds me so much of the late Paul Hunter – Higgins
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Murphy’s early exit in Leicester will allow him to prepare for the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.
The 2025 Masters champion faces Ziyad Alqabbani in round one on November 19.
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Watch and stream the 2025/26 snooker season, including the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, live on TNT Sports and discovery+
