Shaun Murphy grabs PTC Grand Final victory beating Martin Gould in final at Helix Theatre in Dublin
England’s Shaun Murphy grabbed the title of inaugural PartyCasino.com Players Tour Championship (PTC) 2010-11 Grand Final on Sunday, March 20 at the Helix Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. He whitewashed
his fellow countryman Martin Gould 4-0 in the final.
The former world champion, Murphy had a complete control over the table throughout the match. The final was totally Murphy-dominated as the English cueman was on fire from the very first frame of
the final which he took 70-18 with a superb 43 break after he took 27-18 lead in the start.
The 2008 UK Championship winner, Murphy grabbed the early lead of 40-1 just in the beginning of the second frame, but a fine 45 break from Martin Gould made it 46-40. Gould however, could not sustain
his lead for long as a decent break of 20 from Murphy, along with 6 foul points given away by Gould, added the frame to Murphy’s account, 66-46.
The 29-year-old Gould clinched a quick 24-0 lead in the third frame, before the 2009 Paul Hunter Classic winner, Murphy made a terrific half century break of 53 to snatch away the frame 59-44 from
the Pinner Potter and led 3-0 in the match.
The fourth frame, which appeared to be the last in the end, was a tossing display as Gould gave a tough defence to the 28-year-old Murphy. The Magician, Murphy, took advantage of Gould’s simple mistakes
during the frame and hitting a couple of small breaks, he clinched the fourth frame 51-34 and won the title match 4-0.
While speaking to the local media after the victory, Murphy said, "In the first matches in Sheffield a few months ago I could hardly win a match but to win the whole thing is a dream come true. I've
had a bit of bad luck and missed a few balls but the standard is going through the roof."
He added, "Historically, short matches have never been a strong point of mine but I've been doing a lot of work on the mental side of things and changing my perspective on a number of issues - that's
really helped me."
He spoke about Gould, "He hit some fantastic shots and he's had a fantastic tournament. Martin, more than anyone else, is such a flag-bearer for the PTC tournaments.”
Shaun Murphy pocketed a £60,000 winner’s cheque and the runner-up Martin Gould was awarded £25,000 at the end of the final event of PartyCasino.com PTC on Sunday night.
Murphy held top rank in the PTC order of merit while Gould occupied the 13th spot. The 2007 Malta Cup champion, Murphy reached to the final of inaugural PTC 2010-11 Grand Final crashing
Ricky Walden 4-2 in round two, Stephen Lee 4-3 in the quarter-final and Matthew Stevens 4-0 in the semi-final.
On the other hand Gould, the 2002 English Amateur Championship winner, had to clean up Jamie Jones 4-0 in the first round, Judd Trump 4-2 in the second, Michael Holt 4-2 in the quarter-final and most
importantly, Mark Selby 4-3 in the semi-final to grab the final match spot against Euro PTC Event 2 winner Shaun Murphy.
Gould also qualified for the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship 2011 held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield from April 16 to May 2, where he lost to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Last-16 stage.
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