Shaun Murphy wins Players Tour Championship Grand Final 2011
Shaun Murphy beat Martin Gould by a frame score of 4-0 to win the 2011 PartyCasino.com Players Tour Championship (PTC) Grand Final in Dublin, Ireland. The overall score line between the players was 70-18, 66-46, 59-44 and 51-34.
Former world champion Murphy put in some inspired performances by beating the likes of Stephen Lee, Matthew Stevens and Martin Gould to clinch his first PTC Grand Final.
Martin Gould too played brilliantly to reach his first ever final of any televised ranking event. However, he couldn’t pocket the title, but beating the likes of Jamie Jones, Judd Trump, Michael Holt and Mark Selby was definitely no mean feat.
The Pinner Potter, Gould, had good chances in the first two frames but perhaps the excitement of beating two-time Masters Champion Mark Selby a few hours earlier got to him. As a result, he missed some easy shots in both the opening frames, breaking down
on 18 and 45 respectively to end up trailing 2-0.
He had another great chance to get back into the match in the third frame when Murphy brought him back on the table after rolling in 53 points. However, he failed to capitalise on the chance, after missing an easy pink which could have awarded him with a
frame.
The Whiston Warrior, Murphy, made no such mistakes and left his opponent three frames down with four to play. A bout of safety play was seen in the fourth until Murphy again came out on top to seal a comfortable 4-0 win.
Shaun Murphy, who finished top of the rankings after 12 PTC competitions to qualify for the Grand Final, took the winner’s prize money of 60,000 pounds while Gould earned 25,000 pounds.
Gould said afterwards that he was probably a bit more excited and over confident than nervous. He said nobody liked losing 4-0 but added that he had enjoyed the atmosphere and his first final appearance. He also said that he wanted to dedicate his achievement
to his mother, who passed away almost seven years ago.
There will be no rest for Gould, as he will be on an early flight to Crondon Park in Essex for the Championship League; the Premier League Snooker qualification tournament.
Shaun Murphy was pleased with his performance in the final and said that it had been a fantastic experience for him.
He said, "I've spoken to some players that weren't supportive of it in its infancy and they've said they'll be playing a lot more next year. They've said they wished they'd played in more and were here, but I've capitalised on their absence."
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