Matchroom Unveils New Ref Murphy for Masters

Posted by admin as Patricia Murphy

Matchroom Unveils New Ref Murphy for Masters

Following hot on the heels of Matchroom Sport’s No.1 referee Michaela Tabb comes Patricia Murphy, a 27 year-old Irish girl who makes her big-time pool debut at the forthcoming PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters in Las Vegas in May.

A professional snooker referee by trade, Trish is also a distinguished English 8 ball ref and has plenty of 9 ball experience too.

O riginally from County Clare in the Irish Republic, Murphy now resides in Stamford, Lincolnshire in the UK.

“Predominantly, I am a professional snooker referee with the World Snooker Association but I do a lot more snooker than I do 8 ball,” she explained.

“My partner Lewis Roberts is a professional snooker player but also played 9 ball at local level and I got into it from going with him.”

Murphy made her television debut in the 2006 Junior Snooker Pot Black Final and officiated again at the same tournament in 2007.

At the Masters, which tales place from 9-11 May at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, Murphy will be working as No.2 to Michaela Tabb and will take charge of around half of the 15 matches.

The prospect of refereeing some of the biggest names in the game on TV could prove daunting for the first time but Trish is fully confident in her abilities.

“I always enjoy a challenge and every match offers a different experience which I like. It doesn’t matter if I ref big name players, each player is treated the same and equal,” she said.

“Players can become very emotional during matches, especially high pressure games. A referee needs the ability to know where the line is between showing emotion and becoming troublesome.

“You need to be able to handle all kinds of situations and troublesome players can sometimes be one of them.”

It was Tabb’s success in the world of pool and subsequently snooker that first inspired Murphy to don the white gloves, “When I first saw Michaela refereeing it made me believe that I could be a referee and she was someone I looked up to so much.

“Over the years she has given me great advice and become a very close friend to me.”

Murphy jets out to Las Vegas a few days before the tournament for what will be her first visit to the city and first refereeing experience outside the UK.

“I’m thrilled to be going to Vegas as I have always wanted to go but it’s a bonus to be going there to referee such a prestigious event as the World Pool Masters,” she said.