Shaun Murphy ‘left for dead’ after being beaten up by school bullies
The 2005 world snooker champion has revealed he quit a Northants school aged 13 after being attacked in toilets
SHAUN MURPHY revealed he was "left for dead" after being badly beaten by school bullies.
The 2005 world snooker champion trails Australian Neil Robertson 5-3 after the first session of their thrilling last-16 clash at the
In the eighth frame, Murphy was on course for a 147 break and a £60,000 payday but he missed the last red on 112.
However, the night before this match, Murphy, 36, spoke movingly about a horrendous incident while growing up in Irthlingborough, Northants, after achieving success as a 13-year-old.
The world No13 said: "I went through a bad time at school.
"I lived in a very parochial town and, because of what I did as a young snooker player, I was in the local papers and on radio regularly.
"So I was singled out for a bit of abuse by the other kids. Kids can be really nasty. In the penultimate day of Year 9, I was left for dead in the toilets in the school.
"I was beaten up by a group of lads at the school. I was just left in a pool of my own... whatever.
The geography teacher took me home in her car that afternoon and said to my mum and dad, 'If you know what's good for your son, don't EVER send him back to this school.'
Shaun Murphy
"The geography teacher took me home in her car that afternoon and said to my mum and dad, 'If you know what's good for your son, don't EVER send him back to this school.'
"Over the next few days we came to the decision that we were never going to go back. I couldn't wait to get out of the school system to be completely honest.
"I was educated at home and I took my GCSEs two or three years early. But for that decision I perhaps wouldn't be sat here today."
Ali Carter, the two-time finalist, beat 27-year-old Jack Lisowski 10-6 and will face China's Zhou Yuelong next.
CAR DRIVES ON
It was a bittersweet moment as he overcame a stablemate who, like Carter, has suffered severe health issues, having overcome Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Carter, 39, who twice beat cancer, said: ";It was a horrible match as Jack and I have been through similar things.
"We are good friends and in the same management team. I talked to him when I underwent chemotherapy. We talked about the side-effects, how bad it was.
"It was nice to talk to someone on a level who'd had a similar experience."I just used my experience, stuck to my task and I'm delighted to get through.
More Snooker news
"Jack is a great young player. He's got a lot of special moments to come here, there's no doubt about that.
"I've never seen a talent like him, apart from Ronnie O'Sullivan."I came out the winner this time.But it's very close. Next time, I am sure he will prevail."
World No8 Kyren Wilson beat Scott Donaldson 10-4 to set up a second-round clash with Barry Hawkins.
