Shaun Murphy has been at the centre of the snooker vs darts debate (Image: Getty)
Shaun Murphy took another tongue-in-cheek shot at darts stars after making the 10th maximum break of his career. Murphy has been at the centre of a light-hearted debate between and over what feat is tougher to achieve – a 147 break or a nine-dart finish.
who claims to have once hit a nine-darter, at Paddy Power’s Perfect Challenge last year. was asked for his opinion during the charity event, which featured top players from both sports. He said: “I think if you’re an amateur – you don’t play snooker, you don’t play golf, you don’t play darts – you give them a snooker cue, some darts and a golf club… I think they’d do the hole-in-one first, the nine-darter second and then the 147 last. I think that would be harder. But to a professional, I think a nine-darter is harder than a 147.”
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Murphy, who was within earshot, then quipped: “I didn’t know you were a comedian too.” Humphries hit back, saying: “What’s funny about that? Did you hear what I said, though? When you know all the angles… You’ve seen you two – Mark’s [Williams] come close [to a maximum] already.
“That’s my opinion. When you’re a professional, you make it look easy to hit a 147. Stats show it too. In frames and legs of darts, there are more 147s than nine-darters.”
After hitting his latest maximum against Zhou Jinhao at the World Open in China, Murphy was told in an interview that he was giving darts players “some ammunition” in the long-running debate. A laughing Murphy, who also hit a 147 at the Masters in January, said: “Maybe we’re just better at what we do, I don’t know. That has been said by some.
“Maybe we’re just better at what we do!” ??????’s playful jibe after making his tenth career maximum! ?????? ????????????
— WST (@WeAreWST)
“In all seriousness, I never really wanted to compare the things. It started with me and Wayne Mardle having a drink, discussing which was more difficult.
“I’m sure there are more things out there more difficult than each other. Listen, I’ve made snooker look very difficult at times. When it goes well, I’m really pleased.”
Having made a blistering start to the tournament in Yushan, Murphy was beaten in the quarter-finals by the in-form Joe O’Connor, who faced John Higgins in the final. Meanwhile, Humphries made it to the second day of the UK Open thanks to a over the women’s game’s top player, Beau Greaves, on Friday night.