Tommy Murphy (snooker player)

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Tommy Murphy
Born (1962-01-08) 8 January 1962 (age 60)
Derry, Northern Ireland
Sport country Northern Ireland
Professional1981–1994
Highest ranking42 (1988/1989)
Best ranking finishLast 16 (x2)

Tommy Murphy (born 8 January 1962 in Derry) is a Northern Irish former professional snooker player.

Career[]

Murphy won the Northern Ireland Amateur Championship and All-Ireland Amateur Championship in 1981.[1] Before turning professional, Murphy was an apprentice coffin-maker.[2] In 1987, Willie Thorne made a maximum break against Murphy in the UK Championship. Although this was the first maximum in almost four years, it was not televised.[3]

As a professional, Murphy's best ranking finishes were last 16 appearances at the 1987 British Open and the 1988 Classic. At the Irish Professional Championship in 1982 and 1986 he reached the semi-final, on both occasions being defeated by eventual champion Dennis Taylor.[4] He also represented Northern Ireland at their infamous World Cup campaign. Teaming up with Taylor and Alex Higgins, Northern Ireland reached the final which ended with defeat to Canada and Higgins threatening to have Taylor shot.[2]

This was Murphy's last notable appearance at a tournament, and he lost his professional status in 1994.

Performance and rankings timeline[]

Tournament 1981/
82 		1982/
83 		1983/
84 		1984/
85 		1985/
86 		1986/
87 		1987/
88 		1988/
89 		1989/
90 		1990/
91 		1991/
92 		1992/
93 		1993/
94
Ranking[5] [nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] 55 58 57 44 42 57 75 90 150 228
Ranking tournaments
Dubai Classic Tournament Not Held NR LQ 1R LQ LQ A
Grand Prix[nb 3] NH 1R 2R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ A
UK Championship Non-Ranking Event 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ A
European Open Tournament Not Held 1R LQ LQ LQ A A
Welsh Open Tournament Not Held LQ LQ A
International Open NR LQ LQ LQ 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R Not Held A A
Thailand Open[nb 4] Not Held Non-Ranking Event Not Held LQ LQ LQ LQ A
British Open Not Held 1R LQ 3R 1R LQ 2R LQ LQ WD A
World Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters A A A A A A A A A LQ A A A
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian Masters Tournament Not Held LQ Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Open Tournament Not Held LQ Tournament Not Held
Classic NR LQ LQ 1R 1R 3R 1R 1R LQ LQ Not Held
Strachan Open Tournament Not Held LQ Not Held
Former non-ranking tournaments
UK Championship LQ LQ 1R Ranking Event
British Open[nb 5] LQ A LQ Ranking Event
Shoot-Out Tournament Not Held 2R Not Held
Irish Professional Championship SF QF NH QF SF 1R QF QF Not Held LQ LQ A
Performance table legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi–finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. ^ New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
  2. ^ a b He was not on the Main Tour.
  3. ^ The event ran under different names such as Professional Players Tournament (1982/1983 to 1983/1984).
  4. ^ The event ran under different names such as Asian Open (1991/1992 to 1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994 to 1996/1997).
  5. ^ The event run under different names such as International Masters (1981/1982-1983/1984)

Career finals[]

Team finals: 1[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Team/partner Opponent(s) in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 1990 World Cup  Northern Ireland  Canada 5–9

Amateur finals: 2 (2 titles)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 1981 Northern Ireland Amateur Championship Northern Ireland Billy Mills 4–3
Winner 2. 1981 All-Ireland Amateur Championship Republic of Ireland Anthony Kearney 5–2

References[]

  1. ^ "Global Snooker Countries - Northern Ireland". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 23 December 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2018.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ a b Everton, Clive. Black Farce and Cue Ball Wizards: The Inside Story of the Snooker World.
  3. ^ "How many 147 breaks have been scored and who made them". Sporting Life. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Tommy Murphy". Snooker Database. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
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