SHAUN MURPHY, groomed to triumph at the Embassy World Championship since he exhibited an eerily natural aptitude for the sport at the age of 8, fulfilled his destiny in extraordinarily mature fashion last night. He beat Matthew Stevens 18-16 to capture a title every player dreams of.
Murphy, 22, the first qualifier to prevail at the Crucible since Terry Griffiths in 1979, joined Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon men’s singles champion, Ben Curtis, the 2003 Open golf champion at Royal St George’s and Greece, winners of Euro 2004, in creating one of the most unlikely sporting upsets of recent years.
This, though, was no fluke. He crossed the winning line in consummate style with an 83 break and, should he maintain a similarly exalted level