Shaun Murphy gears up for Ronnie O’Sullivan challenge: World Snooker Championship 2011
Englishman Shaun Murphy is prepared for his second-round clash of the World Snooker Championship 2011 against compatriot Ronnie O’Sullivan on Saturday, April 23, 2011 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Murphy and O’Sullivan cruised past Marcus Campbell and Dominic Dale respectively to set up their meeting in the second round.
Both Murphy and O’Sullivan re at the peak of their form as they crushed their opponents in their opening matches at the arena. The 2005 world championship winner, Murphy, triumphed over Marcus Campbell 10-1. On the other hand, O’Sullivan treated Dominic
Dale the same way and nudged him down with 10-2 on the board.
The 28-year-old Murphy is excited to face the ‘Rocket’ in their clash and is looking forward for a tough resistance from the former three-time world champion and is preparing himself for the battle.
The Cheshire-based cueman said, “Next up is Ronnie and I am really looking forward to the opportunity of playing him at the World Championship. I’m sure it’s going to be special. I’ve been preparing by practising the aspects of my game that I know will have
to be spot-on; long potting, break-building as well as a little bit of safety.”
Murphy has faced O’Sullivan three times before, two times in the Premier League 2010 and once in the Championship League 2011. The first clash ended in a draw while O’Sullivan was victorious in the next two meetings. However, the overall match-winning rate
of Murphy in the current season is far better than that of O’Sullivan which is 73 per cent against 51.6 per cent of Ronnie.
Murphy, also called the Magician, believes his game is in a good order and he was quite excited after playing well against Campbell in the first round.
On the other hand, the 3\5-year-old Ronnie O’Sullivan believes that there is no player in the world he cannot beat. He enjoyed a comfortable success in the first round against the Welshman Dominic Dale with some outstanding clearances of 96, 113, 73, 115,
96 and 100.
The stunning O’Sullivan has had a torrid season as he faced several first-round exits from the major snooker tournaments and was at the brink of quitting but somehow he scrambled with himself and came back into the game.
“There's never been a person who plays snooker who I haven't thought I could beat. I look forward to playing each match now. If I win, great, and if I lose, I'll be back. Other than John Higgins and Stephen Hendry, there's no-one makes me think, ‘Don't miss,
you might not get another chance’,” said the ‘Rocket’ Ronnie O’Sullivan.
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