Opinion was divided over whether the peak of his game was the 1982 world championship semi-final, when he rescued a deficit of 59-0 with a break of 69 to reverse the match entirely, or the final, when he made a total clearance of 135 in the final frame (his opponent, Ray Reardon, sitting pale with disbelief) and then, in tears, called his wife and baby daughter out of the crowd to hug them.
Cipriani lit up the start of the second half with a searing break from deep before throwing a splendid reverse pass to Paul Sackey, but the wing's pass eluded his support runners.
Murphy also points to technicals to make the bullish case for gold, observing "a very tight reverse head-and-shoulders pattern" following the break from its high in February.