Shaun Murphy hopes shedding four stone can bring the good times back

Snooker star Shaun Murphy has revealed he’s had gastric sleeve surgery to get his faltering career back on track.

The 2005 world champion admitted the heartache of being ‘fat-shamed’ on social media contributed to his decision, as did the breakdown of his marriage last year and prolonged injury problems. Murphy, now 40, wants to turn things around — on and off the table.

‘I’ve had a lot of things going on in my life which contributed to the worst season of my career last season,’ Murphy tells Sportsmail. ‘It’s been incredibly tough and one thing I’ve always struggled with is my weight.

‘It was a big decision to go under the knife, but I accepted that I was unable to sort my weight out. I had surgery in May and so far I’ve lost about four stone.

‘My weight has always fluctuated, but it comes down to discipline and I needed to do something about it to give me the best possible chance of being successful in the final third of my career.

‘This last year has been one of the toughest, if not the toughest, of my life. Me and my wife Elaine separated, which has been hard because we have two children. I started eating a lot more. Like alcohol, it’s an addiction but it is not spoken about as much.

‘Me and Elaine are tentatively trying for a reconciliation, but the breakdown of our marriage and my weight and injury problems obviously made playing snooker really tough. It was secondary to everything else.

‘But I decided to do something about it because I’m sick of being fat-shamed on social media and not feeling good about myself. At this year’s World Championship I didn’t fit into my suit properly and didn’t feel good. I’m by no means the finished article yet, but I’m heading in the right direction. This is a new start for me at 40, I just want to enjoy my snooker and feel good about myself.’

A sleeve gastrectomy is where a large part of the stomach is removed, meaning you cannot eat as much and become full quicker.

‘The surgery is irreversible, so it was a huge decision,’ admits Murphy. ‘I get that as a high-profile sportsman you expect stick on social media, but the personal attacks are really cruel.

‘I’ve had 80 per cent of my stomach removed so now I can eat very little. It’s pretty much impossible for me to ever put weight back on again. I used to go to Weight Watchers and really enjoyed it and I’ve lost weight throughout my career — it’s yo-yoed when I’ve dieted and got into exercise. But I was listening to Steve Davis in the commentary box at this year’s World Championship and something struck a chord with me. He wasn’t aiming his comment at me, but he said it was no secret that the fitter players, those that had looked after themselves, were dominating.

‘You only have to look at Ronnie O’Sullivan. He is the player who has looked after himself the most and he’s just won a seventh world title at 46. He’s getting better with age. And a lot of the other tournament winners like Neil Robertson and Judd Trump are fit. John Higgins has lost weight by spinning and I know a lot of professionals have Peloton bikes so they can stay fit.’

Murphy shot to fame in 2005 when, as a 150-1 outsider, he won the World Championship at the Crucible. But his last ranking win was the Welsh Open before the pandemic. Now, following surgery, he wants silverware again.

‘I’ve pretty much won something every year, but last season was poor,’ reflects Murphy. ‘I want to win more. I’ve been in four world finals and only won one, I’d love to win it again.

‘I know there’s nothing the other lads can do that I can’t, but my health has let me down. I’ve still got little goals, like getting to world No 1, which I’ve never achieved. But I’ve grown up in a generation of the Class of ’92 — O’Sullivan, Higgins and Mark Williams — and lost to great players like Mark Selby and Robertson in big finals. The standard is so high, but there’s life in me yet!’