Snooker's expert commentators and the watching TV millions were equally dumb-founded by the precocious calm, the almost eerie serenity, with which the tyro Shaun Murphy became world champion on Monday night. But the seeds of his unexpected victory were sown nine years ago when he walked into a Northamptonshire snooker centre.
Heather Quick is the owner of the Rushden Snooker Centre, where Murphy has been developing his skills. She said last night: "Shaun's father, Tony, asked me to build a special Riley table for Shaun. It was heated and very brightly lit. He was only a little boy but he was already practising for a big TV tournament. And even then he had exactly the same mannerisms around the table. I paid for it myself and it cost me £5,000. It's not very good if a player leaves the club and takes the table with him."
She was not sure about Murphy senior at first. "I thought he was an ogre. He was a bit strict and used to upset Shaun. But, looking back, I can see now that he was a very good father."
She added: "The first time I saw him, at 13, I knew he was very special. He was good left-handed and could play one-handed. He showed me how to play and straight away I got a break of 17. My best is 49 now."
And when it was all over, finally, and Murphy had become the first qualifier to win the world title for 26 years, a little-known man cracked open a bottle of 12-year-old malt whisky and wept with joy.
"That's a good thing about getting older," said the 59-year-old Rodney Hinde, who lives in Murphy's home town of Irthlingborough. "You're not scared to show your emotions. You can be when you're young. Besides, my wife, Susan, understood."
Hinde, a retired cue maker, was visited by Murphy two weeks before the Embassy tournament in Sheffield and fitted a new tip on his cue. The cue itself also came from Hinde.
"It's about 80 years old," he says. "It's a Tom Newman cue. He was a famous billiards champion. I've got a collection of cues and I chose this one to give to Shaun when he was about 14. It was too small, so I had to lengthen it, build extensions and also work on the weight and balance.
"But, essentially, it's the same cue and it cost 17s 6d in the 1920s. It lets you feel every shot through your arm and, as every pro will tell you, the cue should feel like an extension of your arm."
A friend of the family, he added: "Shaun has been a very good snooker player since he was 10 or 11. And he's also a very fine single-handicap golfer."
Hinde was celebrating at the Rushden Snooker Centre yesterday, where Quick added: "Even more important than that table is the atmosphere at this club. We try to make people feel important and give everyone a chance."
Peter Ebdon, the 2002 world champion, practised at the Rushden Snooker Centre every day for six years and Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens have also prospered from their visits to the club.
The manager Gary Holden said last night: "Since Shaun lifted that trophy I've had four dads on the phone, booking their sons in for lessons. Shaun's victory was good for the club and its customers. But, more than that, it was very good for the town and the game itself.
"I keep reading that the game is crying out for new sponsors. And it can't have a better showcase than this. You don't need Ronnie O'Sullivan winning all the time."
Snooker organisers have been encouraged in their search for a sponsor to replace Embassy by the size of the audience for Monday night's final. The BBC2 audience peaked at 7.8m during the climax of Murphy's match against Matthew Stevens, almost twice the number who tuned in to O'Sullivan's crushing victory over Graeme Dott a year ago, though well down on the all-time high of 18.5m who watched the famous Steve Davis-Dennis Taylor match in 1985.
A World Snooker spokesman said he was now "very confident" of finding a "high-profile" replacement for the tobacco company. An alcoholic drinks brand is favourite.
Meanwhile Murphy said he had had a quiet night, with just a glass or two of champagne.
"I went down to the lounge this morning and the trophy was sat on the floor," he said. "It sent a shiver down my spine." His £250,0000 winner's cheque will help buy a Mercedes and pay for his marriage to his fiancée Clare. "We are going to make some sound investments and some smart moves," he added.
In celebratory Northamptonshire, though, they are not holding back.
The Rushden connection
Shaun Murphy, from nearby Irthlingborough, is the latest leading player to learn his craft or sharpen up his game at the Rushden Snooker Centre
Mark Williams
Age: 29
Nationality: Welsh
Current world ranking: 9
World Championship best: Winner 2000, 2003
Stephen Hendry
Age: 36
Nationality: Scottish
World ranking: 2
WC best: Winner 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999
Matthew Stevens
Age: 27
Nationality: Welsh
World ranking: 4
WC best: Runner-up 2000, 2005
Ken Doherty
Age: 35
Nationality: Irish
World ranking: 11
WC best: Winner 1997
Peter Ebdon
Age: 34
Nationality: English
World ranking: 7
WC best: Won 2002, Semi-final 2005