Anthony McGill has responded to critics of his runner-up speech at the British Open, saying he was just gutted to lose a big match but had absolutely no complaints over the result.
McGill made a fantastic run to the final of the British Open last month, beating the likes of Gary Wilson, Xiao Guodong and John Higgins along the way.
In defeat, the Scot offered Murphy his congratulations, saying on ITV: ‘I just want to congratulate Shaun, I think he deserved it. He played the better snooker so no complaints.
‘I’m sure I’ll take some positives but right now I felt the match was there for the winning and I didn’t step up so I’m pretty disappointed.’
He added: ‘I felt like the stronger player all day. I’m not sure what happened towards the end, I wasn’t nervous or anything, I just didn’t seem to participate in the last few frames. Shaun is a quality player.
‘I have got my ranking back up so there are some positives, I feel a lot better about my game.’
McGill was clearly very disappointed as he spoke and it was obvious he wanted the interview to be as short as possible, which did not sit well with some critics online.
There was some suggestion the 34-year-old could have been more statesmanlike in his response, but he felt he did nothing wrong.
‘I was just disappointed,’ he told Metro. ‘I was so confident in that final. Don’t get me wrong, I think Shaun deserved it in the end, 10-7. In a best-of-19 there are no flukes, you can maybe nick a best-of-7 you shouldn’t maybe win, but a best-of-19 the right man always wins, so there are no complaints.
‘I felt really in control of myself and was really confident. Any player worth their salt, when you’re feeling good about yourself you think you’re going to beat everybody. Shaun will, Judd [Trump] will, anybody will. I do as well.
‘My speech at the end…I’m fine an hour after the match, I’m totally fine and then maybe I don’t seem so down. But the camera is right in your face, the microphone and I’m just thinking, “How am I standing here not announced as the winner?” You’re thinking of shots, man, why didn’t I just do that? Or that little thing there, it could have been so different and makes a massive difference for the next two years because there’s massive spin-offs.
‘Maybe I came across a bit…whatever, but I certainly didn’t mean to. I was just gutted to lose a match.
‘I always take defeat well, I think. Sometimes I’m not actually that bothered about getting beat, but that one was a match I was really bothered about losing.’
McGill thinks his expression and tone can betray him sometimes, with people who know him saying he comes across very differently on television to in private.
‘I think I just come across quite boring and people don’t like me,’ he said. ‘I think it’s just the way my face sits.
‘So many people in my family and social circles say I look so different on the TV, I look such a different person to what they know. It’s just maybe my face or my voice, I don’t know. But I had no problem with Shaun winning the match, he won it fair and square, I was just gutted.
‘I’ve got a good relationship with Shaun, he’s one of the best players ever.’
McGill was in action again on Sunday evening in Belfast, losing out 4-2 to Judd Trump in the opening round of the Northern Ireland Open.
‘My standard wasn’t good enough,’ he said. ‘I didn’t play well tonight, but I know what went wrong tonight and I think I’ll be fine.
‘I think I’m very close to playing much better to what I showed there. It’s half an inch here and there on some shots that can change the whole match and then you look like you’re making a lot of mistakes when you’re really not far away.
‘I need a new cloth on my table, I’ve not had one for 18 months and it plays nothing like what I’m practicing on. I don’t think I potted one long ball today.’