An unexpected slab of beef has emerged between Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy ahead of the World Snooker Championship, although confusion reigns over the spat.
The Magician beat the Warrior in the final of the Masters in January, with Murphy in spectacular form on his run to the title at Alexandra Palace.
There was a slightly unusual runner-up speech from Wilson, but it appeared to be all in jest as he labelled Murphy an ‘old man’ and said he ‘needed the win more’ than him.
The champion laughed it off and little more was thought of it, but Wilson has now revealed that he was indeed ‘salty’ because of something Murphy did before the evening session in north London.
‘I think, if people knew the story, people would understand and probably actually applaud me almost for what went on in that final,’ the world champion told TNT Sports.
‘Shaun knows full well what happened before the evening session of the Masters final. I don’t want to bad mouth anyone, but what he did before the evening session was uncalled for and quite unprofessional.
‘There might have been a few [salty comments]. We live and learn. I disagree with something that Shaun did during that final, but I’m not taking anything away from him. He played so well during that week. He was really classy.’
Wilson offered few details and Murphy could not fill in the blanks when asked about the situation on Friday.
‘I’m totally baffled by it,’ he said. ‘My phone lit up this morning when that was released. I was in the barbers minding my own business. I came out and my phone had gone nuts.
‘My mates were saying: “What did you do? What is the story?” I have got absolutely no idea. I am disappointed that he has chosen that now is the time to bring it up, whatever it is. He has had months to say something to me if he wanted to.’
Murphy seemed pretty annoyed by the whole thing, adding: ‘I think it is really poor form on him to say it the way he said it. To leave everybody hanging.
‘If you are going to have the bottle to pull somebody over something, at least call me about it. He could have said it to my face. He could have been a proper bloke and actually addressed me himself. He has chosen not to do that. I have no idea what the beef is or what the problem is.’
On being labelled unprofessional, he said: ‘I was sore when I saw that comment because my professionalism is something I pride myself on and have done for many years.
‘I am left scratching my head as to what he could possibly be referring to. I have no idea. I wish he had just accused me of something outright because at least I could defend myself. I have no idea.
‘The Masters I remember, we left the venue and this is what I did in the interval: I filled my car up with washer fluid, I took it for a car wash and we went for a team Starbucks. I am not sure what he is talking about. Maybe he was offended by my Starbucks.’
Quizzed for more details on his side of the story, Wilson did not paint much of a clearer picture, but did say that the issue stemmed from the practice room at Alexandra Palace.
‘Shaun knows. Shaun knows what he did,’ said Wilson. ‘I don’t want to bad mouth him because I don’t want to take any shine away from his win and it’s nothing to do with performance-wise, because he was absolutely fantastic during the Masters.
‘It’s almost like snooker player preferences, we all know the dos and don’ts. There was a bit of a don’t in the evening session just before the final.
‘There was nothing going on during the game, no off-putting or anything like that. Just to make that clear. It’s in the practice room.
‘Shaun knew. We had a chat about it. Me and [brother] Taylor pulled him and Peter [Ebdon] up on it. I’m very good friends with Peter and good friends with Shaun. I helped Shaun out a lot over the past couple of years. Especially when he was living in Ireland needed a practice base and a suitcase to borrow, stuff like that.
‘So I was disappointed how that happened, but at the end of the day, no bad blood whatsoever against Shaun. I’m on tour too much nowadays to have any bad blood with anyone. Taking nothing away from his win. But I disagreed with something he did before the evening session. He knows what he did, we spoke about it.’
Murphy and Wilson both attended the champion’s dinner on Thursday for former world champions and the Magician said it was a friendly event.
‘I would love to get the chance to say to him what is the problem. He didn’t mention anything last night at the dinner,’ he said. ‘He shook my hand at the dinner and was nice as pie.
‘Whatever it is that is upsetting so much, it can’t be that bad because he shook my hand last night. I have no idea what is wrong with him. I don’t know. If you are going to call someone out, don’t go half baked and leave everybody, including me hanging. I have no idea.’
The two men are on opposite sides of the draw at the Crucible so could only meet in the final. What a place that would be for the feud to come to a head.