Shaun Murphy Declares “Life in the Old Dog Yet” After Winning Second Masters

On 19th January, 2025, Shaun Murphy overcame Kyren Wilson 10-7 to join an elite group of snooker players to have won multiple Masters titles. His victory in the final at Alexandra Palace over a man almost a decade his junior was a win for old-timers everywhere and at 42 years of age the Englishman declared that there was “a bit of life in the old dog yet”.

Murphy himself admitted after the victory, which was tenser than the scoreline might suggest, that he was “in shock”, adding that “If I’m totally honest I thought these days were gone.” The man from Harlow made a maximum 147 break in his semi-final win over Mark Allen and narrowly missed out on one earlier in the tournament too. In the quarters he made 120 but snookered himself on the yellow as he sought to clear up the final six colours.

He was a very worthy winner of this year’s tournament, the first Triple Crown event of the calendar year. As well as his 147 and his near miss, he made a further five centuries, his seven in total four more than any other player at the tournament. The Magician, who won the World Championship in 2005, started working with Peter Ebdon in 2024, who tasted glory himself at the Crucible in 2002. At the time he stated that working with Ebdon, 13 years his senior, would help toughen him up. Ebdon was certainly a gritty, determined and sometimes controversial player, and the signs are that he may just be the perfect coach for Murphy.

Murphy Claims Masters

Murphy has not always got the credit he has deserved but as well as having won this tournament more than once, he is also among a small group of players to have claimed the career Triple Crown. He won the World Snooker Championship in 2005, the UK Championship in 2008 and then completed the set with his first Masters win in 2015.

10 years ago he destroyed Aussie Neil Robertson in the final, winning 10-2, but that was his last Triple Crown victory until now. He has had big wins since then but last made a major final, by which we mean in one of snooker’s big three tournaments, in 2021, when he lost the Worlds to Mark Selby.

Since then he has not really got down to the business end of these tournaments often, and whilst he had a decent 2023, making four finals and winning three, 2024 was disappointing. He remained easily among the top 16 in the world rankings but his seeding heading into the 2025 Masters – 8th – was a fair reflection of his status.

He was not really expected to win and, as alluded to above, even Murphy himself didn’t really foresee a serious tilt at the title. Gary Wilson was up first and gave Murphy a chance to ease himself into the tournament. Wilson is 39 but it is only in the last couple of years that he has really surged up the rankings. He was seeded 11th and the Magician proved too good in a reasonably straightforward 6-3 triumph, even though his opponent mounted a decent comeback from 4-0 down.

In this invitational event, that victory meant Murphy was into the quarters and there he would face Robertson. It “should” have been top seed Ronnie O’Sullivan but the cards fell kindly for the eventual winner, with Ronnie withdrawing from the tournament. Robertson took advantage of his late entry by seeing off John Higgins 6-5 in the first round but was beaten easily, 6-2, by Murphy.

The fifth seed, Mark Allen, was up next in the semis and this was a real step up against a player who spent around a third of 2024 ranked the best player in the world. Allen won the Players Championship last year, as well as the Riyadh Season Championship in December, so came to Alexandra Palace with plenty of form and confidence. He took a 2-0 lead over the Magician and having seen off Mark Selby in the quarters would have really fancied his chances at that stage.

Murphy hit back though, winning three in a row before a magnificent maximum break in the sixth frame put him 4-2 up. There were some tense moments but in the end, once again, it was a simple enough win in the final reckoning, coming 6-3 to set up a final against Kyren Wilson, who had seen off Judd Trump in the semis. Wilson, the defending world champion, was seeded second for the tournament and came into the final as the favourite after his good win over Trump. But in the end Murphy won 10-7 against his compatriot to claim his fourth Triple Crown success.

Murphy produced some excellent snooker in the final, rattling in four centuries, whilst Wilson was unable to muster a highest break of more than 95. It was Murphy’s third Masters final and Wilson’s second, with the younger man having lost in 2018 to Allen. A 94 in the opener settled Murphy’s nerves, if he had any, and he was soon 4-1 up. He could have gone 5-1 up but his opponent grittily came from behind to stay in the match, but consecutive centuries gave the Magician a 6-2 lead after the first session.

Wilson is a fighter and claimed the ninth frame but another three-figure break from his opponent made it 7-3. They exchanged frames to give Murphy an 8-4 advantage at the interval and Wilson knew he had very little room for manoeuvre. He came out battling though and breaks of 78 and 65 helped him win three frames in a row.

At 8-7, with momentum against him, Murphy – who hasn’t been accustomed to matches of this significance recently – could have buckled. But he did the opposite and took the next frame before another century got him over the line in real style.

What Next for Murphy?

Goodnight ❤️ pic.twitter.com/qtMV5dcqp9

— Shaun Murphy (@Magician147) January 20, 2025

The win gave the 42-year-old the biggest payday of his career and perhaps more importantly will have given him the belief that he is still capable of beating anyone in the world. He won the tournament, made the most tons, took the highest-break prize with a maximum and almost had two 147s, so he will be really hopeful of a fruitful relationship with Ebdon and a brilliant 2025.

O’Sullivan, Higgins and Mark Williams have all shown that being over the age of 40 does not impede competing at the highest level. The Rocket won the Masters in 2024 at the age of 48, and holds the record as the oldest winner of each Triple Crown event. Murphy may not be able to compete quite that long but he will certainly feel he can win one or two more before he hangs up his cue.