Shaun Murphy has reacted to Kyren Wilson’s “old man” dig towards him after their dramatic Masters final. Murphy defeated Wilson 10-7 at Alexandra Palace earlier this month, hitting four centuries to secure the Paul Hunter Trophy – his first Triple Crown title in a decade.
But as the Magician sealed the biggest payday of his career, world No. 2 Wilson made a bizarre jibe at Murphy in his post-match interview. The Warrior said: “No disrespect to Shaun, he is turning into an old man now. So he needs this more than me. I am 33-years-old, coming into my prime and I am having an amazing season.”
Murphy, 42, issued a classy response by quipping back: “There is still a bit of life in the old dog yet.” And the Masters champion has now addressed Wilson’s comments once more while appearing on Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips, after he was asked by snooker legend Hendry: “Kyren made a dig about your age after the match didn’t he?”
Murphy didn’t appear too fazed when giving his own account of the incident: “I know. Do you know what was really funny? I don’t think Kyren heard it but there was a fellow standing behind me and he’d been shouting for me all day.
“When Kyren said Shaun’s now an old man, your man behind me went ‘Yeah, he still kicked your a*** though didn’t he?’ That was quite funny.”
Wilson also raised eyebrows by suggesting some of his rivals were “envious” of his family unit before vowing to “consume so many Jagerbombs tonight and have the best night ever”.
World No. 1 ranked snooker star Judd Trump was more critical of Wilson after the Masters. Giving his take on the outburst, Trump said last week: “I think the first thing everybody said at the Championship League was, ‘Did you watch that?’
“I don’t think he particularly put himself in good light. I don’t know if it was a private joke, but it doesn’t seem that many people took it that well, from what I’ve read.
“It’s happened a couple of times, he’s not the best loser, but it’s not the worst thing to be hurting like that. Everyone will get over it and it’ll be fine. I’ve done it in the past. He probably means what he says, you just can’t really say it. There’s a fine line between being honest and trying to keep everyone happy.”
