Defending champion Shaun Murphy endured a nightmare start to his Masters title defence on Sunday, suffering a comprehensive 6-2 defeat to debutant Wu Yize in a performance that left snooker legend Stephen Hendry utterly baffled.
A Champion's Unexpected Demise
The match at Alexandra Palace, which Murphy had anticipated for a year, unravelled almost immediately. The Magician made a series of uncharacteristic errors from the very first frame and astonishingly failed to compile a single break over 50 throughout the entire contest. Murphy himself offered no excuses, stating it was "possibly the worst performance... in my history of playing at the Masters" since his 2001 debut.
Hendry's Scathing Assessment
Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry, who knows a thing or two about defending titles having won the Masters six times, was perplexed and unsympathetic. "I don't actually relate to it," Hendry said on BBC commentary. "Because I think when you're defending champion you've got to be even more determined to win than the previous year." He described Murphy's display as "strange" and noted the champion simply "looked off it from frame one."
Murphy echoed the confusion in his post-match interview. "I've got absolutely no idea why," he admitted. "I've been working hard... I didn't expect to play like that. I'm as shocked as anyone." He later took to social media, expressing being "crestfallen" and acknowledging that while every sportsperson has a bad day, you don't expect it in the first round of a major tournament as defending champion.
Wu Yize Seizes His Dream Moment
For 22-year-old Wu Yize, the victory was a dream realised. "Coming down the stairs at the start of the match, it was exactly the stage I had dreamed of as a child," he said. He capitalised on Murphy's off-day, producing a superb break of 137 in the second frame. Wu was modest in victory, admitting "I don't think Shaun played well either today" but crediting his own consistency in the crucial moments.
Wu's reward is a quarter-final clash with another debutant, Xiao Guodong, who caused a second major upset on Sunday by defeating the formidable Mark Selby 6-2 in a brilliant display featuring breaks of 95, 62, 76, 77 and 118.
