Teenage snooker player Ben Murphy hoping to represent England

Ben Murphy

Milnrow snooker player Ben Murphy, 14, is continuing to make strides in his career as he hopes to represent England for the second time.

The teenager, who stated playing snooker at aged nine, played for England in January and is now hoping to be selected again.

Ben’s mum, Tracey Murphy, said: “He played for England in January at the European under 17s in Malta and got to the semi-finals. He got a trophy for the highest break. He is now hoping to be selected to go again.”

Ben started playing snooker after previously playing pool at a local club. Unfortunately the coach died, which left Ben looking for somewhere else to play.

Tracey added: “We saw that there was an academy in Swinton but it was for snooker so we went along to that and it went from there really.”

During his career so far, Ben has reached the final of the under 14s English Association of Snooker and Billiards, won a number of tournaments for the under 16s in the North West and is due to go to Gloucester at the end of July to play in the under 18s European Cup.

“We are really proud of him and it is something that he takes very seriously. He has an uncle who is a professional snooker player and he is ranked sixth in the world, so we think it runs in the family,” added Tracey.

Ben currently works with Coach John Farnworth and practices four times a week at the Catholic Club in Rochdale. He has lessons every Saturday and goes to various pro-ams up and down the country.

Tracey added: “Unfortunately it is getting expensive with all of the tournaments and travelling that we do so we are looking for a sponsor to help and if anyone could do that, then that would be great.”

Anyone interested in sponsoring Ben can contact Tracy on 07906 102315.