“That’s four reds and four blacks.”
Steve Davis drops the hint on the BBC commentary earpieces and the atmosphere tenses up a little in the arena at Alexandra Palace. Shaun Murphy, who’s looked in immaculate form all afternoon, is closing in on the finish line in his Masters quarter-final against Neil Robertson. But he has a maximum break on his mind.
The 2,200-strong crowd have been locked in across almost three hours of a top-class encounter between the two former world champions, but there’s a different energy now. Murphy looks assured as he strolls around the table, the cameramen in lock step with him, giving the scene a theatrical quality.
Murphy clinches the frame and match in style, but everyone’s wondering if they’re about to witness a bit of history. There’s roars of encouragement after he knocks a long-range red into the heart of the green pocket. Murphy said afterwards he couldn’t breathe as the 147 loomed into view.
The fans are almost scared to breathe too as he makes the century and just has the tricky black to yellow to navigate. More cheers as he pots the 15th black to bring up 120 but the white’s crawling up the table and there’s a symphony of groans as it comes to a halt right behind the blue.
“Anywhere but there.”
Murphy can’t believe it. Robertson covers his face with his hand. A chance at joining an exclusive club goes abegging.
Ken Doherty can empathise with Murphy, having famously missed the last black for a 147 and a new car in the 2000 Masters final. The Dubliner says that miss hit him harder than losing the match to Matthew Stevens.
“There was only one maximum at the [Wembley] Conference Centre before, that was Kirk Stevens in 1984, which was like 16 years previous. There’s only been five maximums I think in the 50 years of the Masters. To have been on that rostrum would have been lovely.
“The funny thing was the car, a Honda NSX, it was a yellow car. I passed it every day and I thought, ‘jayz that’d be nice to win that’. But when I was down on the black, I was thinking now if I pot this black, now I’m going to get the car, I’ll have to drive up the M1, the M6, A55, on the boat from Holyhead back to Dublin, it’s a lot of petrol, so . . . nah. I didn’t like the colour anyway.”
Doherty never played at the Ally Pally, the tournament’s home since the move from the Wembley in 2012, but he loves the venue.
“It’s probably the best atmosphere that the players play in. I know the Crucible is that little bit special but it’s a smaller crowd. But this tournament, with what they’ve done with the fan zone and everything they’ve really ramped it up a notch, it’s tremendous . . . You’ve got the top 16 players, every match could grace a final.”
The crowds arrive early to check out the fan zone, which is decked out with several 6ft tables, food trucks, a big screen and a slightly bizarre colour catcher tube courtesy of the title sponsor Johnstone’s Paint, where grown men flail in a blizzard of papers looking to score enough points to win a ticket to next year’s event.
There’s one full size snooker table where bolder fans can demonstrate just how difficult the game is and how preposterously easy the professionals make it look. On Thursday, a long queue snakes around the venue as fans wait for a chance to speak to three-time champion Mark Selby.
Patrick Mooney, a fan from Birmingham with Irish parents, came down for a few days of the tournament. The Masters is the third leg of his tour of the three Triple Crown events to celebrate his 60th birthday. He thinks the Masters is the best of them all.
“The World Championship was brilliant but it’s very small. It was nice, the whole of Sheffield was involved . . . but I think this is best venue actually . . . I’ve never been to this part of London before, it’s a really nice area. Nice bit of greenery, in London!”
Shortly before the tournament, defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan pulled out after smashing his cue following a string of defeats in the run-up to the event. Doherty was “gutted” by that as “he brings a certain electricity”, which is evident in the regular shouts of “c’mon Ronnie” throughout other matches.
O’Sullivan said it was a nightmare decision but that he’d “exhausted” himself in the build-up and felt it was the right decision to pull out. The eight-time winner says he intends to be back at Ally Pally.
However, O’Sullivan’s absence opened up the draw, with Judd Trump the clear favourite. The world number one has won three tournaments already this season, including the UK Championship, and became the first player ever to pass £1 million in prize money before Christmas.
Doherty says “with the way he’s playing he’ll be hard to beat”. He came from 1-3 behind to see off Ding Junhui 6-3 on Friday afternoon and will play either world champion Kyren Wilson in the semis.
While Murphy may have missed out on the 147, Davis said he was playing “Masters-winning standard” and he goes up against Mark Allen, another former champion, in Saturday’s other semi-final.
The Belfast man overcame Mark Selby and Si Jiahui to make the last four and seems to be close to finding his best form following a tournament victory in Riyadh, where he took home £250,000.
There’s been a little bit of needle between Allen and Murphy following a disagreement over conditions at the British Open in October. Murphy is a players’ representative on the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association governance board and called some of the criticism of the tables at the event in Leicester “rude and amateurish”.
That prompted Allen to respond on X: “Anyone taking [Murphy’s] opinions seriously, I seriously question their judgement or quite possibly their sanity, not gonna lie.” It’s all set up for an intriguing contest.
Murphy, who lives in Dublin, hasn’t won a Major since the Masters 10 years ago. After his victory over Robertson he told Eurosport if he’s playing like that he’s “without question” good enough to take the title again.
If he overcomes his 147 disappointment, he could be celebrating to the max by Sunday evening.
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