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Shaun Murphy of England celebrates after winning the Johnstone's Paint Masters title at Alexandra Palace in London, United Kingdom, January 19, 2025. /VCG
Shaun Murphy defeated Kyren Wilson 10-7 in an all-English Johnstone's Paint Masters final at Alexandra Palace in London on Sunday, clinching his first Triple Crown title in a decade.
Having finished the first session with a 6-2 lead, Murphy withstood a resilient rally from his compatriot, who came from 8-4 down to close the gap to 8-7. Wilson allowed only one point by Murphy from the 13th to 15th frames, while rolling in top breaks of 78 and 65 to cut his deficit to just one frame.
Then in the crucial 16th frame, Wilson went for a tough long red, but missed the target. Murphy made good use of the opportunity to tally a 55 and extend his edge to 9-7, with potentially three frames to play. In the end, he sealed the deal in the next frame with a break of 100, his fourth century in the match.
"It's totally unbelievable, I'm in shock," Murphy said. "I genuinely thought that my days of competing for these Triple Crown events had gone. There were too many bad losses, you start seeing demons in the pockets. The loss in the world final in 2015 really hurt me, and the one in 2021 also took it out of me."
The 42-year-old known as "The Magician" then talked about some of the steps he took to return to the winner's circle.
"I've been working with Peter Ebdon, and that's what has saved me, because I was in a spiral of negativity. The first thing he wanted to do was restore my belief that I can actually do this," he added. "Three events in and we are winners. I came here, having worked very hard on my game, in a really good frame of mind. To make the 147 yesterday completed a lifetime ambition. And now to be here with the trophy, it's one of the best days of my life."
The trophy Murphy lifted on the night will join the other Triple Crown hardware he won at the 2005 World Championship, 2008 UK Championship and 2015 Masters. He also became only the 12th player to win the Masters on multiple occasions.