'Incredible!' - Shaun Murphy pulls off outrageous trick shot before joking with crowd in Welsh Open semi-final

Snooker fans, do you remember Shaun Murphy’s amazing exhibition shot at the 2017 World Championship against Ronnie O’Sullivan when he used lots of side and the cushion to pot a red? Well, he played an even better shot during his Welsh Open semi-final clash with Pang Junxu on Saturday night. Ad It was a very scrappy start to the match, but Pang made a break of 49 to lead 58-18 with one red remaining, so Murphy needed snookers.

Welsh OpenWelsh Open LIVE – Murphy meets Pang after on-song Milkins powers into final9 HOURS AGO Smartly, the Chinese player laid a snooker of his own with the white left tight behind the black and the red hanging next to the right-centre pocket. With no clear escape using the cushions, Murphy decided to play an ambitious shot by wobbling the white in between the jaws of the bottom-right pocket with right-hand side, so when the white hit the top cushion, it would come off at an angle and go towards the red.

He executed it perfectly in what has to be one of the shots of the season. “Wait for it...” reacted former world champion Joe Johnson on Eurosport's coverage as he saw the cue ball heading towards the red.

“Incredible! If somehow he goes on to win this frame, he will never stop looking at that shot.” Philip Studd added: “He’s known as The Magician, and he’s pulled something out of the hat there. Definitely one for the show reel.” After his shot, Murphy joked to the crowd “that was pretty good, wasn’t it?!” Welsh Open 2023 – Latest scores, results, schedule, order of play ‘He’s got a really good snooker brain’ — O’Sullivan says Milkins reminds him of Drago He still needed two snookers, though, which he couldn’t get and Pang went on to win the frame.