At present, the Masters, one of the three major competitions of snooker, is in full swing. Veterans of the snooker world, O'Sullivan, Higgins and others after 75 are still performing very well, active in a fiery state on the field. Just when fans lamented when these veterans can give young players a little hope, there is a top player after the 80s who has retreated at this time, and it is likely to become the first player in the "80 Five Tigers" in the snooker world to leave the game.
In the snooker world, there have always been "75 three masters" and "80 five tigers", which mainly refers to the 8 players who have dominated the championship for a long time in the snooker world. Among the 80 Five Tigers, Ding Junhui, the flag of China's snooker, is among them. Ding Junhui was able to become this top 8 player, of course, because of his excellent performance. Although Today's Ding Junhui world ranking has fallen out of the world's top 16, it may even be impossible to keep the world's top 32. But in the years when he first debuted, the young and vigorous Ding Junhui won more than a dozen championship trophies with solid technology, achieving his position in the snooker industry. In the past two seasons, Ding Junhui's performance has indeed been very sluggish, and there have been many rounds of travel in the game, not to mention the championship, that is, the top 8 and 4 of the event are extraordinary. Therefore, the news that Ding Junhui's morale has faded and he may retire at any time comes from time to time. However, on New Year's Day this year, Ding Junhui expressed on social platforms that he still loves snooker and wants to return to the top.
Originally thought that the most likely to leave the "80 Five Tigers" member was Ding Junhui, but what fans did not expect was that the player who first retreated was actually Murphy, known as the "magician". After losing to Hawkins 2-6 in the first round of the Masters, a somewhat disheartened Murphy withdrew in an interview with Metro, saying that he already had a "seemingly exact" retirement schedule.
"I can't practice for as long as I used to" and not only that, but "over the years, there have been recurring episodes of pain in my neck, shoulders and back, some of which are unbearable," Murphy said. Murphy said the illness in his neck began to loom in 2013 and began to really become a serious headache for him in 2015: "Sometimes I can't look to the left, sometimes I can't look to the right." ”
Murphy went on to say: "I have to admit that I can't hit the ball now, the pain in my neck and shoulder seems to have become 'omnipotent', although I am still full of yearning for most of the games and want to participate, I have to see their (pain) "face". For the past two seasons, Murphy's form has really not been good, and he has won nothing in other competitions except for winning the 2020 Welsh Open. In the new season, he himself said that he was more selective in the few competitions, and also performed poorly, many round trips. For example, in the "British Open" that began in August last year, he lost to Selby in the first round; England lost 2:4 to Patrick in the second round of the English Tournament; and lost 2:4 to Chinese player Li Xing in the second round of the Scottish Tournament.
At the recent British Championships, he staged another round of travel, losing to Chinese amateur Si Jiahui. After this game, he also said insulting things to Scarlett, believing that he did not deserve to be on the field. Multiple poor results, coupled with injuries, made Murphy a little disheartened. "I think I might need to be away for a while and come back when I can actually play," he said.