Shaun Murphy reveals he’s running with pianist girlfriend to shed the pounds but won’t see her complete the marathon

SHAUN MURPHY will miss his partner running this weekend’s London Marathon as he focuses on his own marathon efforts at the snooker.

The Magician, 42, enjoyed his biggest first-round win for six years as he battered debutant Daniel Wells 10-4, scoring breaks of 100, 138 and 133.

PA

Shaun Murphy’s girlfriend Jo (left) is running the London marathon[/caption]

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The 2005 champ will be unable to watch as he’s in action at the Crucible[/caption]

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Two of his three second-round sessions are on Sunday, the first starting at 10am.

And it means he cannot come down to London to watch girlfriend Jo cover 26.2miles in the capital.

Jo is a world-renowned professional pianist and is running on behalf of the Stroke Association, which is something “very close to the family”.

Murphy – who needs to win 61 more frames to become world champion – said: “I’d have loved to have been down there supporting her.

“She has trained so hard, she has been working so hard, raising money as well for the Stroke Association.

“She is a musician. She is off touring the country. She will be here later in the tournament, if I can keep going through.

“She’s incredible. I have been really inspired by how hard she has worked for the marathon. She is dead excited.

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“She was supposed to do it last year but had to pull out through injury.”

Murphy – who battled food and booze addictions – had £11,000 gastric-sleeve stomach surgery in 2022 but wants to shed more weight this summer.

Once the Worlds are over, he will make a proper effort to get rid of the pounds on the scales.

The 2005 world champion – who plays Judd Trump or Zhou Yuelong next – joked: “I’m not sure about doing a marathon – I prefer a Snickers!

“Jo has inspired me. I’ve been doing a bit of running with her.

“Not like the three-hour training sessions that she does.

“It has inspired me. Once this tournament gets out of the way, I will really think about some personal fitness goals, to get in the gym.

“I have been doing a bit of that in the lead-up to here and trying to do a bit more. Hopefully 42 is the new 22.”