Shaun Murphy has responded to Ronnie O’Sullivan’s jibe towards him by calling it a “cheap shot” before explaining that the two snooker icons are “not the best of friends”. The Rocket was perplexed when noticing that Murphy had brought multiple cues to his Northern Ireland Open match with Chris Wakelin, in order to combat the changing table conditions.
Murphy had used several cues in his 4-2 defeat in Belfast to Wakelin, to which O’Sullivan reacted by saying: “Have three cues if you’re winning, but when you keep getting pumped it don’t look good, does it? So start winning some matches before you start doing that.”
The two legends have often clashed over the years and recently Murphy insisted that O’Sullivan’s criticisms of the game were not helpful. But the Magician especially took offence to his rival’s joke regarding his cues, insisting that it was a “cheap shot”.
“First and foremost, let me put this out there. I can take a joke as much as the next person,” Murphy said on The Onefourseven Snooker Podcast. “I love having a bit of craic with everyone, and if you’re going to give it, you’ve got to be able to take it. But I didn’t get it, I didn’t understand what the joke was. I thought it was a bit of a cheap shot.
“I didn’t understand what he meant. Because as you’ve said, I won three or four matches last week in Belfast – I’d taken multiple cues into the arena every time I walked out to play. Anyone who understands what I’m trying to do at the moment understands that it’s only towards the end of the event that I’m going to need the second cue, as conditions deteriorate.”
O’Sullivan and Murphy have clashed over the course of their long careers on multiple occasions, but the latter wants to be remembered for his unconventional cue situation. Murphy shed light on his relationship with the seven-time World Snooker Championship winner and offered a piece of advice for the next time that O’Sullivan wants to tell jokes live on TV.
“Jokes are fine, I hope he remembers who started it when it all goes wrong in the future, because unless you’ve been living under a rock for 20 years, you will know that we’re not the best of friends,” Murphy added.
“So I hope he remembers who started it, but I just didn’t get it. I didn’t understand it. I’m happy to take a joke, but I’ve a few shots of my own to take. There’ll come a time when I get a chance to make a little cheap shot at Ronnie’s expense.
“And do you know what? I’ll probably take it after that. Remember this Ron – if you’re going to tell jokes, they have to be funny. They have to make sense. Otherwise you just look silly.”
