SNOOKER hero Shaun Murphy has revealed he has had a gastric sleeve operation after receiving fat-shaming messages on social media.
The 40-year-old opened up about his decision and what led to it, speaking about trolls online, his marriage breakdown and injury problems.
Murphy told The Daily Mail: “I’ve had a lot of things going on in my life which contributed to the worst season of my career last season.
“It’s been incredibly tough and one thing I’ve always struggled with is my weight.
“It was a big decision to go under the knife, but I accepted that I was unable to sort my weight out. I had surgery in May and so far I’ve lost about four stone.
“This last year has been one of the toughest, if not the toughest, of my life.
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“Me and my wife Elaine separated, which has been hard because we have two children. I started eating a lot more. Like alcohol, it’s an addiction but it is not spoken about as much.
“Me and Elaine are tentatively trying for a reconciliation, but the breakdown of our marriage and my weight and injury problems obviously made playing snooker really tough.
“But I decided to do something about it because I’m sick of being fat-shamed on social media and not feeling good about myself.
“The surgery is irreversible, so it was a huge decision. I get that as a high-profile sportsman you expect stick on social media, but the personal attacks are really cruel.
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“I’ve had 80 per cent of my stomach removed so now I can eat very little. It’s pretty much impossible for me to ever put weight back on again.
“This is a new start for me at 40, I just want to enjoy my snooker and feel good about myself.”
Murphy burst onto the scene in 2005 when he won the World Championships.
He is motivated to win it again saying: “I want to win more. I’ve been in four world finals and only won one, I’d love to win it again.
“My health has let me down. I’ve still got little goals, like getting to world No 1, which I’ve never achieved.”
Murphy has taken inspiration from Ronnie O’Sullivan saying: “He is the player who has looked after himself the most and he’s just won a seventh world title at 46. He’s getting better with age.”
