Shaun Murphy brought two cues into his match with Ryan Thomerson at the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and the experiment proved a success, at least in the result, as he won 4-2 to reach the last 64 in Belfast.
Murphy has spoken for several months about his intention to use multiple cues, which he feels will give him an advantage in varying conditions, and he put the theory into practice tonight. The former World Champion brought three cues to the tournament, with tip sizes of 9.2mm, 9.3mm and 9.5mm, each of which creates a different amount of ‘deflection’ when playing with side on the cue ball. He left the 9.3mm version in his dressing room, took the other two into the match arena and used only the 9.2mm version in the heat of battle.
The world number seven, who won two ranking events at the tail end of last season, only found fluency in the third frame against Thomerson with a break of 91. But he ground out the result to set up a tie with Marco Fu on Monday at 7pm.
“I first spoke to John Parris about making new cues for me 18 months ago, and it has taken a while to put the plan into action, but tonight was the first real test,” said Murphy. “I have always felt that there are times when we struggle to adapt to the conditions, for example in Shanghai where it is more humid. And there are shots you miss because the equipment doesn’t perform as you expected it to. I didn’t want to get to the end of my career having not given this a try.
“Just by coincidence, there were two players in the arena tonight (Anthony McGill and Ahmed Aly Elsayed) using cues made of graphite, which shows that other players are also experimenting. It might be that in five or ten years, it is standard for players to use multiple cues, or versions made from carbon.”
Mark Allen made a strong start to his quest to win this title for a third year in a row as he beat Ben Mertens 4-0. Like Murphy, the Pistol was far from his best, but the local favourite’s fans went home happy as he won with a top break of 55. “It was a mixture of good and poor stuff,” Allen told Eurosport. “My safety was solid, I was patient and made Ben work for chances. It ended up being a comfortable win. I did what I needed to do, just getting past potential banana skin because Ben is a talented boy and has had some really good results.
“I’m getting better at playing in my home town but I still feel nervous, I just wanted to get the first win under my belt and get into the tournament. My preparation was different today because I was in the arena watching Robbie McGuigan’s match this afternoon rather than relaxing in my hotel. It was great to see Robbie getting a win on the board.
“This venue is class, if you put it somewhere else I would still say it’s one of the best we play in, not just because it’s in Belfast. The fans always come and support it.”
Gary Wilson made breaks of 69, 118, 94 and 50 as he edged out Louis Heathcote 4-3. Jimmy White came from 3-1 down against Anthony McGill to 3-3, only for McGill to make an 81 in the decider to win 4-3 just after midnight.
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