Murphy pleased with PTC win

Shaun Murphy admitted he felt 'privileged' to win the inaugural Players Tour Championship.

The 28-year-old Englishman beat compatriot Martin Gould in the final in Dublin by four frames to nil. He has netted himself the £60,000 winner's cheque while his beaten opponent had to console himself with £25,000.

Murphy's success is testament to the vision of Barry Hearn, the chairman of World Snooker. Murphy was at the top of the Order of Merit having participated in all 12 of the smaller tournaments which make a player eligible for this one. Others, including Ronnie O'Sullivan, missed out due to not playing in enough of these events and those placing snooker bets would have been disappointed not to see him participating.

Gould had had a good run to the final, beating Jamie Jones, Judd Trump, Michael Holt and Mark Selbyon his way to the showpiece game. However, he could not raise his game any further, allowing Murphy to claim a simple success.

Speaking after his win, Murphy said: "To win any tournament is fantastic and I'm privileged to win the first PTC Grand Finals.

"I've just enjoyed playing as much snooker as we have this season. I said at the start of the PTC series that I thought the standard was going to go through the roof.
"I had a bit of luck along the way this week but with Irish genes I need a little bit of luck."

Meanwhile, Gould accepted he had missed a 'couple of silly balls' and that Shaun was always going to punish him under such circumstances. However, he declared he was happy with his form throughout the week, saying it had been 'a good learning experience'.

Both Gould and Murphy will be participating in the World Championship, which begins at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre on April 16.