Shaun Murphy says he received death threats after UK Championship controversy

Shaun Murphy said amateur players shouldn’t be playing in big tournaments after he was surprisingly beaten in the first round of the UK Championship by Si Jiahui

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Willie Thorne famously applauds a young Stephen Hendry after defeating him in 1986

Shaun Murphy claims he’s been subjected to death threats and verbal abuse following his comments at November’s UK Championship.

Former world champion Murphy exited in the first round at York after a dramatic first round contest with amateur player Si Jiahui, with the 19-year-old romping into a 5-1 lead.

Murphy fought back to level matters at 5-5, only for the amateur player to prevail in a tense deciding frame.

The shock exit prompted an extraordinary outburst from the 39-year-old, who claimed it was wrong for amateur players to be entered into professional events.

“It is not fair, it is not right,” he told reporters after his match.

“I feel extremely hard done by that I have lost to someone who shouldn’t even be in the building.

“I don’t know why we as a sport allow amateurs to compete in professional tournaments. This is our livelihood. This is our living. We are self-employed individuals and not contracted sportsmen. We don’t play for a team.”

Murphy, nicknamed ‘The Magician’, then had to endure a backlash, with Ronnie O’Sullivan one high-profile figure to criticise, suggesting he should “get another job” outside of snooker.

He did later concede the timing of his comments was ill-advised, but has now revealed the extent of the vitriol he faced.

“I spent the first 24 hours locked in my hotel room fending off calls from all the news outlets.,” he told The Metro .

“I didn’t say it to generate interest, it wasn’t a line, it wasn’t clickbait, it’s something I felt genuinely about and I couldn’t believe how mad it went.

“Soon after I was on the motorway in traffic and there was a guy abusing me from his van next door. I was thinking, ‘We were only talking about snooker, I’m not the prime minister!’ It was all getting a bit much.

“I got a few death threats on social media, people messaging me all sorts of vile stuff. It was not an experience I’d like to repeat, I have to say. I didn’t think what I said was that bad.”

Murphy, who has nine career ranking tournament wins to his name, did admit he regretted overshadowing a huge win for Jiahui.

“What I felt worst about was that was a big game for him and a big victory in his career and it felt as though my comments could have taken the shine off that for him,” he added.