It is unlikely too many tears will have been shed – unless you are snooker player Shaun Murphy of course – following his remarkable post-match interview last week after being eliminated from the first round of the UK Championship.
Murphy, the 2008 champion, lost a final frame decider to China’s Si Jiahui in York on Tuesday and it’s fair to say he was not best pleased.
Murphy’s post-match comments were something to behold.
He said: “I feel extremely hard done by that I have lost to someone who shouldn’t even be in the building.
“He played like a man who does not have a care in the world, because he does not have a care in the world. It is not fair, it is not right.
“I am not picking on him as a young man, he deserved his victory. Amateurs should not be allowed in professional tournaments, the end.
“This is our livelihood. This is how I put food on the table. This is how I earn money. Since turning professional at 15, I have earned the right to call myself a professional snooker player. He hasn’t done that. He shouldn’t be on the table.”
It’s hard to shake the belief there was sour grapes at play here.
I’m no accountant but I’m guessing Murphy’s career earnings of £4 million should ensure he will enjoy the festive period regardless of his early exit from the tournament.
There were 128 competitors in this tournament and Murphy was beaten by the better man on the day. Whether he was an amateur or not is irrelevant and Murphy’s comments should be decried for what they are – elitist.
The statement that Jiahui has not earned the right to call himself a professional snooker player is the galling part here.
The Chinese teenager fell off the main tour last year and was no doubt delighted to get an invitation to play. For an opponent to belittle what must have felt like a fabulous moment for Jiahui in the manner Murphy did is shocking.
He won a sporting contest fair and square against a former world champion and the man who finished runner-up earlier this year. Within minutes that achievement was taken away from him in the cruellest of fashion.
Amateur successes are savoured because they are rare events. Everyone loves the tale of the underdog shocking the professionals and beating them at their own game.
Golfer Shane Lowry won the Irish Open at Baltray in 2009 as an amateur. Lowry, now a professional, regards that feat as the greatest moment of his career.
The rules in professional golf are such that Lowry could not collect his winners’ prize of £446,000 but he didn’t care. He had just done something spectacular.
It would be fascinating to know what Murphy thought of that achievement.
Given he took part in a regional qualifier for the Open two years ago at County Louth and described it as one of the best experiences of his life, I suspect the scratch golfing amateur would surely have hailed Lowry’s achievement as one of the game’s true sporting fairytales.
What a pity that instead of showing the same respect for his own sport he could only react with vitriol and criticism.
But then maybe it’s only the snooker tables where amateurs shouldn’t mix with the professionals. Certainly sounds that way if Murphy is to be believed.
