Shaun Murphy claimed his first ranking title in more than two years with a 10-7 victory over Anthony McGill in the 2025 British Open final on Sunday.
A close game ebbed one way and then the other before the Magician found an extra gear at just the right moment to pip his opponent to the post in Cheltenham.
McGill, appearing in his first ranking event final since 2017, got off to a better start and won three out of the first four frames with breaks of 68, 78, and 109.
But Murphy responded after the mid-session interval with contributions of 132, 78, and 112 to restore parity heading into the evening bout of play.
When play resumed, another run of 78 from the former world champion saw him take the front for the first time.
The lead then exchanged hands on a couple of occasions before McGill’s 73 took him to within three frames of glory at 7-6.
That was as close as the Glaswegian was going to get, however, with the experienced Murphy finishing the stronger and reeling off the last four frames for a 13th career ranking success.
It completes a special turnaround in fortunes for the 43 year-old, who just a few weeks ago had dropped outside the world’s top 16 for the first time in almost two decades.
Murphy, who has Peter Ebdon in his corner, played tremendously well to win the prestigious Masters at the Alexandra Palace in January, but as an invitational tournament that didn’t boost his ranking position.
In a lot of other events this year, the former world number three played well but frequently found himself on the wrong end of inspired displays from his challengers.
On this occasion, it was he who was in rousing form and victory over McGill capped off a wonderful week during which he also boasted triumphs over Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, and Mark Selby.
“I’ve got to give Anthony credit,” Shaun Murphy told the World Snooker Tour soon after capturing the Clive Everton Trophy.
“He’s so hard, he’s so tough to beat. He has beaten me in some big matches – he beat me at the Crucible a few years ago, which really hurt.”
“I respect him so much as a player. He’s such a nice guy off the table as well, and there’s going to be more wins for Anthony in the future I’m sure.
“Every win is important in its own little way. I try not to make some more important than others.
“I think when you haven’t been in a ranking final for that length of time, I’m so grateful for that opportunity and pleased that, when I needed it most, my game was there.
“I’ve got such a great team who help me so much when I’m not quite feeling 100%. They push me on.
“To be out there and for it to all to come together when I needed it the most, as I say, is extremely rewarding.
“A lot of it [is down to Peter Ebdon]. There’s no question that before we started working together around a year ago, I totally lost belief that those big wins – certainly the majors – were in my future any more.
“I didn’t really believe it, but the third event in I won the Masters. So that told me that we were doing something right.
“Just having him in the corner today a few times, having been out there himself as a warrior and as a gladiator, he knows how I’m feeling.
“When he gives me a little bit of advice, I know he understands. I know he gets it, and that’s invaluable.
“I’ve been watching for years the likes of the Trumps, the Selbys, the Robertsons, going on and winning multiple events in a season and becoming a dominant player.
“Whether I would be a dominant player or not, who knows? But I’d like to win multiple events.
“I remember a couple of years ago when I was winning the Players Championship and the Tour Championship and getting into regular finals.
“I’d like to get back to that. I still think I’m dangerous on my day as I’ve proved this week, so it’s a question of getting some consistency.
“I’ll be back to the practice table tomorrow, I’ve got my qualifier midweek, and then we’re off to China on Friday.”
Murphy rises back up to number 12 on the official two-year rankings, with his recent top 16 concerns now all but abated.
The 2005 Crucible champion is also up to fourth on the one-year list and is pretty much guaranteed to feature in all three lucrative events on the Players Series later in the campaign.
2025 British Open Draw
Round of 32 (bo7)
Iulian Boiko 0-4 Ali Carter
Zhang Anda 3-4 Xiao Guodong
Zak Surety 0-4 Louis Heathcote
Ben Mertens 4-0 Robbie McGuigan
Antoni Kowalski 2-4 Mitchell Mann
John Higgins 4-2 Zhao Xintong
Judd Trump 4-2 Martin O’Donnell
Barry Hawkins 4-3 Jak Jones
Stan Moody 4-2 Ian Burns
Cheung Ka Wai 1-4 Lei Peifan
Joe O’Connor 3-4 Mark Selby
Noppon Saengkham 3-4 Chang Bingyu
Anthony McGill 4-1 Oliver Lines
Mark Williams 4-3 Mark Allen
Liam Davies 4-2 David Lilley
Shaun Murphy 4-1 Neil Robertson
Last 16 (bo7)
Chang Bingyu 0-4 Mark Selby
Lei Peifan 1-4 Mark Williams
John Higgins 4-1 Ben Mertens
Mitchell Mann 4-2 Barry Hawkins
Shaun Murphy 4-3 Judd Trump
Stan Moody 4-3 Ali Carter
Xiao Guodong 2-4 Anthony McGill
Liam Davies 2-4 Louis Heathcote
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Mark Williams 3-5 Mark Selby
Louis Heathcote 2-5 John Higgins
Stan Moody 3-5 Anthony McGill
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Mitchell Mann
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Anthony McGill 6-3 John Higgins
Mark Selby 1-6 Shaun Murphy
Final (bo19)
Anthony McGill 7-10 Shaun Murphy
Featured photo credit: WST
Best player of the week won it. The Murphy turnaround continues.