Shaun Murphy has revealed his ambition of becoming world number one to Stephen Hendry, believing the race for snooker’s top ranking is more open than it has been in recent years.
The 2005 world champion discussed his goals during an appearance on the Snooker Club podcast with Hendry, who knows better than most what it takes to reach the top of the sport.
The Scot’s spell at the summit of the rankings throughout the 1990s made him the dominant player of his era.
For Murphy, the Magician has won almost everything the sport has to offer – including the World Championship, the Masters, and the UK Championship – but one achievement has so far eluded him.
Despite spending more than two decades among the game’s elite, the Englishman has never climbed higher than third in the world rankings.
“I have never made it to the top of the rankings,” Murphy said on the podcast. “I feel it’s in reach for a few of us, because Judd Trump has come back to the pack a bit.”
“Someone is going to have to win a lot of tournaments to catch him and I am going to try, hopefully, for that person to be me.
“I think it’s possible that I could be sat here this time next year as world number one. It’s definitely one of my goals, it’s on my list.”
Based on the official two-year list, Murphy has plenty of work to do.
The 42-year-old began the new season ranked sixth in the world and currently sits around £700,000 behind Trump.
However, Trump amassed a huge amount of prize money during the 2024/25 campaign and now faces the challenge of defending it over the next 12 months.
The world number one’s £500,000 payday for winning the inaugural Saudi Arabia Masters in 2024 represents the single biggest chunk of prize money due to come off his rolling tally this season – particularly as that tournament has been scrapped from the calendar.
Murphy, meanwhile, finds himself in a much stronger position than his official ranking might suggest.
Although he lifted the Masters trophy in 2025, that success did not bring ranking points as the Triple Crown event is an invitational tournament.
His ranking-event campaign that season was relatively modest, meaning there is comparatively little prize money to defend during the upcoming campaign.
As a result, Murphy already occupies fourth place on the provisional end-of-season rankings.
Only reigning world champion Wu Yize, Neil Robertson, and Zhao Xintong currently sit above him, with Murphy approximately £230,000 adrift of the former’s total.
It is still a considerable gap, but a far less daunting one than the official rankings indicate.
Zhao arguably possesses the greatest opportunity to become snooker’s next world number one given he has hardly any points to defend until the 2027 World Championship.
But with a £500,000 sum eventually to be deducted from the Chinese’s total for his win at the Crucible last year, it’s all to play for in terms of the end-of-season world number one race.
Murphy himself enters the new season full of confidence after coming agonisingly close to adding a second world title to his collection at the Crucible Theatre in May.
The Magician produced a series of impressive performances before losing an unforgettable World Championship final 18-17 to Wu, who claimed the biggest title of his career in dramatic fashion.
To bridge the remaining gap at the top of the rankings, Murphy believes there is one simple formula.
“I am trying to do really good practice, and loads of it. It’s the secret, and that’s what has kept Judd ahead of everyone else in the last few years.”
“All he does is play snooker. If you are continuously hitting balls, you will be pretty good at it.
“I have had some time off since Sheffield, but the cue came out last week and I have been in the snooker room every day. I’ll be in there every day until I go to Shanghai.
“Once the season gets under way, I’m going old-school ‘Rocky’ mode – training every day.”
Murphy’s first appearance of the new season comes at next week’s Shanghai Masters, although the invitational event will not count towards the world rankings.
The real chase begins at the China Open in August, where ranking points will once again be on offer.
Murphy knows that overtaking Trump and the others will require an exceptional campaign and probably several tournament victories.
But the former world champion clearly believes that the opportunity to finally become world number one is there to be taken.
Featured photo credit: WST
