Shaun Murphy was accused of being “rude” and “arrogant” by fans after an angry TV rant triggered by a question from presenter Jill Douglas.
The studio flashpoint came after Murphy exorcised some demons by beating long-time rival Mark Selby 6-3 in the Players Championship at the Aldersley Arena in Wolverhampton.
That briefly helped ease former world champion Murphy’s pain after Sunday night’s shock Welsh Open final defeat to Rob Milkins in Llandudno.
And the 40-year-old dished out some payback to four-time world champion Selby, 39, who had won their previous four meetings including the 2021 Crucible final.
But after Murphy admitted in the ITV studio to misses and mistakes, Douglas asked: “The odd shots that you were missing were the shots you would have expected to put away, the more simple shots.
“The tricky shots you were all over it. Is that a lapse in concentration? What’s that down to?”
And in a fiery exchange a prickly Murphy retorted: “I think lapses in concentration… accusing player of that is one of the laziest pieces of journalism in the world.”
As Douglas interrupted saying: “I never said that”, Murphy continued: “For people in snooker-land to think that at the most important part of the frame or match my concentration wanders is ridiculous.
“There are some interesting technical reasons why you miss those balls.”
Douglas said: “We hear people say it is because you are already thinking two shots down the line...”
And Murphy again interjected: “It is complete rubbish, and one of those things that completely gets my goat. You don’t lose your concentration, there are always reasons why.
“You might be thinking about a cannon, but you are focused. It is the most important game of the season, you are thinking about qualifying for the Tour Champs.
“It is so important that to accuse players of wandering off is ridiculous.”
Former world champion and pundit Ken Doherty leapt to Douglas’s defence, asking: “What do you put it down to then, simple misses that sometimes have cost you matches?”
Murphy replied: “There is always a technical explanation, we don’t look at that too much in snooker as they do in golf. It is too easy to say ‘he lost his concentration’, it is very rare.”
Doherty hit back: “It is not always technical, you can miss a shot because you are a bit nervous.”
But Murphy ended a bizarre exchange by saying: “Absolutely, that is correct and also rarely said – we are just accused of wandering off, and I have had enough of it.”
TV viewers were not slow to react. One said: “Murphy ruins BBC Sport coverage and here he is, being his typical self - affecting the usually excellent ITV snooker coverage.”
Another said “Shaun Murphy affirming why he is so unlikeable on the tour”, while a third observed: “How people can like Shaun is beyond me.” Murphy was also accused of being “rude” and “arrogant”.
Minutes later on Instagram, a more moderate Murphy added: “It is important to make the point that I was in no way accusing the presenter for ITV4 Jill Douglas of being a lazy presenter.
“That is not at all what I was trying to say, I have the utmost respect for her and her colleagues.
“I think all too often to say a player may or not have lost his or her concentration… there is a lot more to it than that, and I wanted to get that point across.”
