I’ve spent 35 years as a snooker pro - this player is the most underrated (2025)

Since making his pro debut in 1990 Ken Doherty has played some of snooker's greats, as well as becoming a hugely popular pundit

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Ken Doherty is one of the most well-known faces, and voices, in snooker and has faced plenty of greats over the last three decades.

But the 1997 World Champion, who defeated Stephen Hendry to win the sport's biggest prize before losing in the 1998 final to John Higgins, believes that Shaun Murphy doesn't always get the credit he deserves.

Murphy won the Masters in January against reigning world champion Kyren Wilson, marking his first Triple Crown title in a decade - whilst it's now been 20 years since he took victory at the Crucible.

Speaking to SpinBet Canada, the Darlin' of Dublin said: "Barry Hawkins is really underrated and Ding Junhui nobody is talking about and then there is Shaun Murphy who nobody is talking about despite winning the Masters.

"If Shaun replicates that form then he can win it. He plays Daniel Wells in the opening round and if he comes through that then he likely to play against Judd Trump in the last 16, and that’s very early for those two players to compete (against each other).

"If Shaun can play well then he can beat anyone on his day. Nobody is talking about him."

Asked if recent heavy defeats against Trump and Hawkins could have any impact on the Magician ahead of the Crucible, Doherty added: "I don’t think so because they were short matches those defeats whereas at the World Championships, if he gets his teeth stuck into it after the first round, it is best of 25 frames and it is a good, proper challenge over three sessions.

"That would be a really interesting encounter in the next round if both of them go through, which I expect them to do."

Magician Murphy has been playing some of the best snooker of his career this season, and credits coach Peter Ebdon with adding steel to his game.

Speaking after his emotional Masters victory in January, he said: "Before the partnership with Peter , which is only three tournaments old, I totally lost my self-belief.

"I might have given off the impression that I was the confident person everybody knows, but I thought the days of potentially winning tournaments like this, events like this which are different and in a league of their own, I did think those days were gone.

"It was working with Peter that helped me remember that I can do this." And he believes his January Masters triumph had him playing the best snooker of his life.

"I think I actually played better here. I thought this year was better," he added. "I made four centuries in the final, I had a century in every match. I feel I have played better this week than I played back in 2015.

"That was massively significant and got the monkey off my back for the whole Triple Crown thing. Something I had been trying to do since 2008. So it was massive in that context. But in terms of pure snooker artistry, I think this week was better."