'Man of my word!' - Shaun Murphy to attempt moonwalk to chair after reaching final, delighted for chance to end drought

Shaun Murphy remains firmly set on breaking his ranking title drought after beating Pang Junxu to reach the Welsh Open Final in Llandudno. The Magician has reached his 23rd career ranking final with the victory over his Chinese rival, and his first since 2021. Ad After closing out a 6-3 win over Pang, and outspoken as ever, Murphy spoke to the media.

Welsh Open'This was a big night for me' — Murphy reacts to reaching Welsh Open final10 HOURS AGO He said: «It wasn’t a great performance, neither of us played well. The importance of the occasion got to us. I let him dictate the style of play and if it hadn’t been for the words of my assistant Robert Murphy during the interval, I wouldn’t have won that game.» But win it he did, and Murphy will now face Robert Milkins with an £80,000 prize pot on the line.

Murphy was delighted to end his long streak without reaching a final. He said: “I have been on a bleak run in the last couple of seasons so I am over the moon to be back in another final. We spend a lot of time away from our kids and families but we never give up and I have been working very hard on my game.

This has been coming all season, I have been playing well. In the club I have been grafting, working on my weaknesses and watching my matches back to see where things have gone wrong. I feel I may have turned a corner.” Speaking in the Eurosport studio later, Murphy provided more context.

He added: “It probably got to me if anything, that was a big night for me. When you’re one of the big four or five names, you’re in semis and finals all the time. That hasn’t been my career the last few seasons." He added that the win was really a significant one for his career.