Being the youngest child of 4, all of which carried varied sporting interests it was therefore no surprise that he soon found his love for the game. Spending nearly every free moment at the youth centre during his childhood, he became something of a local celebrity, and even then others around him realised that he had a natural gift with a cue. Morray’s father, who was also a successful sportsman in the world of tenpin bowling, was at the same time taking retirement from his sport and looking for a new activity to fill the void. When the opportunity to start a pool league in Morray’s home town of Crawley, West Sussex his father took on the challenge and within no time at all had established one of the largest leagues in Southern England with over 800 registered players. Naturally Morray was by now playing against the top players in the area and ever increasing his reputation. Again his father unwittingly was to play a large part in the next stage of his son’s evolution by becoming one of the founders of the county pool association which in time would unite with a host of other county associations to become the sports national governing body (the EPA) At the tender age of just 10 years old, his father took him to his first ever major event, which was held at the Brighton Metropole Hotel. Probably the largest event in the sport at the time it attracted all the top players from the day, a very young Tommy Donlon, Keith Brewer and not forgetting Maltese Joe Barbara, Andy Lopez, Mark (the ninja) Hewitson and Big Dave Dolman. Morray’s first round was against Hazel Debrowski, who was the reigning British Ladies Champion (BAPTO), and to everybody’s amazement he won. This started a chain of incredible results, next he beat professional Charlie Nolan, and after another 3 rounds of wins he was faced with the games number 1 player at the last 16 stage. Maltese Joe Barbara was by far the biggest name in pool at that time but this did not seem to faze the youngster, for he too succumbed to Morray’s march. The quarter finals stage, and who would have believed it. It was not a fairytale ending though as his next opponent was very much up to the task. Winning with a straight 5 nil, Professional Roger Blank. But Morray’s run had astounded many people including his father who then started to encourage him further by taking him to events all around England. By the time Morray was 12 he had qualified for the Sussex County men’s B team, and at 14 was promoted into the A squad. Within a year he proved to all that this was no fluke by becoming the youngster player at the time to qualify as an England Men’s team International. After what was a successful first season for Morray he was therefore bemused to why he was asked to retrial by the team manager, especially as he’d finished higher in the team ranking than other players that had been retained. This left him with a very bitter taste and he vowed never to return to the England squad. He returned to event competition with a bang, winning all major titles over the next few years within the South of England. Setting records as he went, for he is still the only player to have won all open titles within region 7, which covers the southeast region, 7 in all and some more than once At 17 he turned professional. Even at this age he was in demand for exhibition events, something that he has carried on for over 15 years. Whilst having to still worry about everyday bills etc and over the next few years he carried on working in his chosen career whilst trying to juggle a busy work schedule with a busier pool schedule and having to face the inevitable circumstances. Even though his career had taken him to over 60 countries around the globe it really did not leave much time for solid practice and soon that started to show with poor results and performances becoming all too frequent. Eventually a decision had to be made so he left behind one travelling lifestyle for another travelling lifestyle and after a few seasons he once again found his form and mental stamina. Like a phoenix Morray has risen from the ashes and has now returned to full flight. He has gained international status via his ancestral roots of Northern Ireland and is very proud to be representing his father’s home country. He has also managed to qualify a record number of times for the World Eightball Championships and finally in 2007 was given a seeded position of world no8. for his achievement. After many years as a professional and with being so popular within the exhibition circuit Morray has grown as a player and holds a vast knowledge for the sport. He has a true passion for the good of the game and its future, for he still believes it is a sleeping giant that will one day take its rightful place amongst other great sports. |
