News Archive
 Here is an article from the past 3rd of December 2001 infact. A big thanks to World Snooker for giving us permissions to publish past articles that were written for their website but no longer available on the net. The image below is from Brads personal stash ;) cheers Brad. (I do believe Brad has a signed copy of this photo!) and the one to the right is the old WSA logo.........isn't it pretty............!!
Match Report by Trevor Baxter
YPD MURPHY JOINS THE BIG TIME
YOUNG Player of Distinction Shaun Murphy has finally clinched promotion to the snooker big time.
 Whizz kid Murphy's victory over Andrew Norman from Bristol in the final of UK Challenge Tour Event Three guarantees he will be competing on World Snooker's Main Tour next season.
It was the 18-year-old from Irthlingborough's second title of the season after his success in the Benson and Hedges Championship at Malvern last November. And his 6-3 success at Jesters Club, Swindon, meant another healthy pay day for the strapping six-footer.
Murphy pocketed a £10,000 winner's cheque to go with £5,000 for his Malvern victory and £17,000 for a memorable debut in the Benson and Hedges Masters at Wembley. He beat Hong Kong's Marco Fu and then led seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry 4-1 before eventually losing 6-4.
"I'm going out to order myself a new set of golf clubs," said Murphy, whose father Tony played in the 1969 British Open. "It's nice to set yourself little targets and then achieve them. But the main priority for me was to win a place on the main circuit." The victory at Malvern and the appearance at Wembley were bonuses. Of course, I was disappointed not to qualify for the final stages of the Embassy World Championship at The Crucible.
"My preparation wasn't right and I didn't work as hard as I should have done. But it was another lesson and I put the work in to make sure I won the Tour event."
Murphy won eight matches in total and made seven century breaks, including one in the final,
Murphy, one of six youngsters chosen for the inaugural Young Player of Distinction scheme, hopes to cap a memorable season by capturing the final Challenge Tour event, which starts next week.
Date: 3/12/01
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