Shaun Murphy has explained to snooker fans what is meant by “playing conditions” – and believes there is a “massive lack of understanding”.
The 2005 world champion gave his take on the subject after playing conditions were heavily criticised during the 2024 British Open.
Early on in the competition, Mark Allen expressed his anger about the table he was playing on in a fiery TV interview with Rob Walker on ITV Sport. It was also reported Allen said he wanted the table “burned” – because it affected his game so much.
Allen went on to win the match against Gary Wilson before advancing to the semi-finals – losing to winner Mark Selby.
But Shaun Murphy who suffered an early exit, was also critical of the playing conditions at the Centaur in Cheltenham on the OneFourSeven Podcast.
Playing conditions explained
He told co-host Phil Seymour the table was playing heavy and explained what was meant by playing conditions in snooker.
Murphy said: “It was bad, it was difficult. There is a massive lack of educating the public (about playing conditions).
“Ultimately there is a massive misunderstanding between the pace of the table and terminology such as ‘heavy’.
“Heavy refers to how much spin we (players) can put on the cueball and how long that spin stays on.”
Seymour then asked Murphy what affects the heaviness of a snooker table.
Murphy replied: “Humidity. The tables are heated to reduce humidity. If the humidity rises and moisture gets in the cloth, it affects how much spin is on the ball.
“It doesn’t necessarily affect the pace the ball goes around the table – that’s not something we are bothered about.
“When I’ve spun the cueball, by the time it has hit the ball I’m trying to hit the spin’s gone. So If I’m trying to screw the cueball back six feet, it actually comes back three feet. That is what we mean by ‘heavy’.
“There’s just a vast lack of knowledge and a way of describing it.”
You can listen to the OneFourSeven Podcast with Phil Seymour and Shaun Murphy here.
One thought on “Playing conditions in snooker explained by Shaun Murphy”