Shaun Murphy apologised to ITV presenter Jill Douglas with a bottle of wine and a card for “leaping down her throat” earlier this week.
But The Magician is in the blistering form to end a three-year title drought and get his hands on the champagne at the Players Championship. Former world champion Murphy admitted he was “unprofessional” in the television studio in a stinging response to a question about possible lapses in concentration. The world No.11 went into a rant about “lazy journalism” and branded any such claims “ridiculous”.
But ahead of a semi-final on Saturday at the Aldersley Arena in Wolverhampton a contrite and remorseful Murphy, 40, and a BBC pundit himself, publicly held his hands up. Murphy lost last Sunday’s Welsh Open final to Rob Milkins - but knocked in four centuries in a 6-0 quarter-final win over Ryan Day in the west Midlands.
He said: “I watched the segment back from the TV studio interview after the win against Mark Selby, and I didn’t think I conducted myself professionally. It was one of the very few times when my temper got the better of me. I walked into the interview very annoyed about something that had happened at the interval unseen by the cameras.
“So I was annoyed, and to be honest Jill could have asked me about the weather and I was already set for a rant. It wasn’t necessarily what I said, but the way I said it was unprofessional and I owed Jill a big apology. Thursday before the match against Ryan Day was the first chance I had to do that.
“Look, I am quick to criticise and point the finger and have a bit of banter with people. But if I think I am in the wrong, I have always been quick to hold my hands up and apologise. I do genuinely think that sometimes the commentary and the punditry can be a little lazy, and I am part of that myself. We can all be guilty of not going into the detail enough.
“But the way I jumped down Jill’s throat was not right. And as I say, she could have asked me what colour my car was and the answer would have been the same. But I’ll not do it again. I think it was accepted in good part. Hopefully everyone likes having wine. Jill was very gracious, thanked me for the apology and said it wasn’t necessary, but I felt that it was.
“I had watched it back and wasn’t comfortable with how I behaved. I pride myself on conducting myself as a role model to young players watching, and kids as a father myself. I don’t want my children in years to come trawling through Youtube and seeing their daddy speak to someone in the way I did, it was out of order.
“A win is coming for me, I know it is. On another day I beat Rob Milkins 9-2 or 9-3 in that Welsh Open final, but he was the better man on the day. Whether it is here this weekend, or in another event, or even the big one at the World Championship at the end of the season. I haven’t won for a couple of years, but I am experienced and probably have the fullest trophy cabinet of anyone left in this event. I am tired of making runners-up speeches though, and it would be nice to make winner’s one.”
And Murphy is using the example of Belgium’s Luca Brecel from a couple of years ago to try and bounce back from a gutting final defeat to win the following week. He added: “I played some great stuff earlier in the week at the Welsh Open including a 147, but then didn’t play my best in the final. But I have responded well this week.
“And I use Luca Brecel as an example of inspiration for that. In one of my first jobs working with the BBC he got to the final of the UK Championship and lost to Zhao Xintong. But then he roared back in the next tournament to win the Scottish Open. He must have been so crestfallen after that defeat, but won the next week.
“It is not easy dusting yourself down after getting to a final and losing it. It’s not a bad achievement being runner-up. But it would be a bigger achievement to take that on the chin, then win here.”
