You’re the Mann!
On day one of the first Player’s Tour Championship at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, Mitchell Mann has caused the first shock by defeating 2005 world champion, Shaun Murphy on the final black.
Barry Hearn’s vision of the PTC events was not simply to increase the number of tournament playing opportunities for the top professional players.
He also wanted to give the unknown talents the chance to create ‘Cinderella’ stories by having a crack at the big guns.
Murphy, who reached his second Crucible final in 2009, and is the current world number 7 was toppled by the 18-year-old from Birmingham.
While Mann claimed the match as his best ever victory, Murphy was philosophical.
"It just goes to show that snooker has great strength in depth.
"Just because a player hasn't been seen on tv and the public don't know their name, doesn't mean that they're not a worthy adversary."
Murphy went on to recall the time when he was making his way into the sport and out of the booths.
"I swore when I got out of the qualifiers that I'd never go play and play in a cubicle again. But I want to play snooker and we've been provided all these events. So that is one down, 11 to go!"
Former Junior Pot Black Winner, Mann was delighted with both his performance and to notch such a famous scalp.
"There's no way I could even expect to play Shaun except for events like this.
"When I saw the draw I was determined to just go out and enjoy it and that's what I did and I got the result."
Mann has suffered from a condition called Perthes, a bone disease. And he has to return to hospital soon for a hip resurfacing operation, which will keep him on crutches for about six weeks.
"I'm lucky actually, because I think I'll only have to miss the first EPTC in Germany. When I was younger I played football but the disease stopped me and I took up snooker.
"It's great what Barry Hearn is doing. Not just for the professionals but for players like me to be able to come and play in the events and compete against some of the top players."
Elsewhere, Marco Fu represented the establishment against the precocious 15-year-old Belgian champion, Luca Brecel.
There was to be no upset this time though, as Fu dominated the match and claimed a four-nil win.
Allan Taylor did upset the form book though by winning four frames in a row to beat Preston's Ian McCulloch and set up a match with world championship finalist, Graeme Dott.
Earlier, in the preliminary round, former professional Hugh Abernethy made an impressive return to the tournament scene with a brace of century breaks in his four-nil win over Ryan Clarke.
The Scot will now face Barry Hawkins for a place in the last 64.
