Shaun Murphy is bracing himself to compete in this year’s World Snooker Championship, a tournament he hopes to win for the second time after his victory twenty years prior, following a recent triumph at the Masters where he defeated Kyren Wilson. However, success at the Crucible Theatre would come bittersweetly, as his estranged father, Tony Murphy, will not be present.
In an interview with *The Sun*, the 2005 champion openly discussed the fractured relationship with his father, admitting a prolonged period of silence between them and expressing deep sadness over the current state of affairs.
“It’s incredibly disappointing and genuinely upsetting how things have transpired,” Murphy confessed. “Now that I’m a father myself, my perspective on this breakdown has shifted dramatically.”
He explained his hope for reconciliation, stating:
- He believed offering an olive branch as the son should be met with openness.
- He’s extended invitations and attempts at connection multiple times, most recently.
Murphy expressed a sense of bewilderment and disappointment.
“You’d expect that the man who raised me… actually, I barely know him at all,” he reflected.
Tony Murphy played an integral role in Shaun’s early snooker career. Their relationship began to deteriorate following his separation from Shaun’s mother when the future champion was still a teenager.
Shaun now has two children of his own, and the absence of his father’s involvement in their lives weighs heavily on him.
“He’s not the man I envisioned,” Murphy lamented. “I harbor no ill will towards him; I genuinely wish him well. However, he lacks a relationship with me, my brother, my sister, their families—their children.”
He continued, outlining the stark reality of his father’s absence:
- Tony has only met Shaun’s son once, when he was just one year old.
- His daughter has never been introduced.
“He’s the one who is missing out,” Murphy concluded with a poignant note of regret. “I feel for him, and I wish things were different, but that’s simply not the case.”
