2015 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
(8) Shaun MURPHY 15-18 Stuart BINGHAM (10)
Session One (4-4): 103-44 (68), 69-51 (59), 74-5 (65), 0-105 (105), 15-68 (56), 90-0 (90), 7-55, 30-73 (65) Session Two (5-4): 74-57 (M 74 B 57), 106-1 (106), 121-14 (121), 97-41 (51), 1-76 (76), 7-129 (123), 0-113 (89), 76-0 (76), 22-67 (53)
Session Three (2-6): 4-87 (87), 40-68 (51), 0-112 (112), 23-95 (50), 80-4 (59), 0-87 (87), 84-0 (84), 7-86 (57)
Session Four (4-4): 73-6, 6-102 (102), 75-55 (75), 68-29 (64), 76-0, 56-80, 3-68 (55), 1-88 (88)
STUART BINGHAM caused a major snooker shock last night after he became the oldest player to win the World Championship at the Crucible since Ray Reardon in 1978.
Essex potter Bingham, aged 38, knocked in an 88 break in the 33rd frame to beat 2005 champion Shaun Murphy 18-15 in one of the best finals of recent years.
There were no fewer than six centuries in the showpiece match, a total which ensured the 2015 tournament broke the overall record for Crucible tons. Eighty-six were scored in the end.
Indeed, Bingham's first major contribution to the contest was a run of 105 - although this was simply necessary to get a foothold after Murphy opened with breaks of 68, 59 and 65 to 3-0 up.
By the end of the first session, Bingham had levelled the contest at 4-4 - but, on Sunday evening, Murphy re-established his dominance with back-to-back centuries as part of a sequence of four frames in a row.
Somehow, Bingham clung on and he came back again with runs of 76, 123, and 89.
And, although Murphy took frame 16 with his own effort of 76, Bingham took the 17th to trail only 9-8 overnight.
Having been 3-0 and 8-4 behind, that was some achievement - and, having restored parity immediately with an 87 yesterday afternoon, Bingham then opened up his own three-frame advantage.
All the momentum was with the man nicknamed Ball-run - and, in frame 20, a sequence of 14 reds and blacks even gave rise to the possibility of a first ever maximum break in a World Championship final.
Sadly, it was not to be as Bingham missed out on the 147 after being unable to remove the last red off the cushion.
Nevertheless, he quickly got over any disappointment and held his lead into the last session, cancelling out Murphy's frame-winning runs of 49 and 84 with contributions of 87 and 57 himself.
Regardless, it was always going to be in the concluding session where the final was properly decided - the match had swung too many times and was too close to think otherwise.
But Bingham pretty much picked up last night where he had left off in the afternoon, equalling Murphy's early effort with a 102 to retain a three-frame lead.
Yet it was by no means an unassailable advantage - and, in fact, it did not last - as Murphy knocked in breaks of 75 and 64 to make it 15-15.
For the next hour and four minutes, though, the two finalists would then contest the most pivotal frame of the match.
"It’s unreal," Bingham said. "At 15-15 I thought my chance was gone. My arm felt like someone else’s and the nerves had got to me.
"But we had a marathon 31st frame, I pinched it on the colours and from then on I played pretty solid."
The decisive breakthrough actually looked to have been made quite early on by a long red from Bingham - but the cue ball cannoned off another red and went in-off.
Murphy tried to capitalise but missed on the yellow, found himself snookered and then went in-off himself three times before an excruciatingly four further misses.
By this stage, the penalty points had given Bingham control of the frame - and he again put Murphy in trouble by sending the yellow up to the top cushion and putting the 2005 champion behind the green.
Incredibly, Murphy went in-off again - but it was not until the 32-year-old unintentionally potted the blue and left the chance of snookers nigh-on impossible that Bingham began to find breathing room.
And, at the same time, not just breathing room - yes, the frame had lasted so long that it had even involved a bathroom break for Bingham.
Undoubtedly, though, it had all been worth it - and, as it happened, it was the first of one last three-frame push.
Frame 32 went to Bingham, thanks largely to a 55 break - and Murphy then still had no answer as his opponent got in first in the 33rd and, ultimately final, rack of the match.
The high quality 88 break was in keeping with the match and the tournament as a whole with heavy scoring frames far outweighing tactical battles.
As such, it was no surprise to see Murphy emerge from the top half of the draw after world number Mark Selby fell victim to the Crucible Curse - and a remarkable debut effort from young Scotsman Anthony McGill.
However, it was perhaps more of a surprise that neither Ronnie O'Sullivan nor Judd Trump could make it through from the bottom half.
That, of course, was down solely to Bingham who beat them both - with the Trump semi final going to a final frame decider following a string of centuries.
It was the emotionally-charged but well-deserved 13-9 win over five-time champion O'Sullivan, though, which Bingham admits really gave himself the belief he could go on to win the title.
And maybe that is all that was missing previously from Ball-run - that little bit of self-belief.
Certainly, there were no problems with his effort or attitude, as no player on the circuit has worked harder or travelled and played more than Bingham since Barry Hearn's global revolution of snooker.
All the toil then has culminated in this 17-day marathon of snooker - and so, while he may have been an unexpected champion, he can hardly be considered an unworthy one.
Yes, after all the defeats - and even the jibes - over the years, last night meant it had all still been worth it. Bingham had reached the pinnacle of his sport.
EARLIER RESULTS
FIRST ROUND Best of 19 frames | (1) Mark SELBY | 10-9 | Kurt MAFLIN | |
| (16) Stephen MAGUIRE | 9-10 | Anthony McGILL | |
| (9) Joe PERRY | 10-4 | ZHANG Anda | |
| (8) Shaun MURPHY | 10-3 | Robin HULL | |
| (5) Barry HAWKINS | 10-9 | Matthew SELT | |
| (12) Mark ALLEN | 10-3 | Ryan DAY | |
| (13) Ali CARTER | 10-5 | Alan McMANUS | |
| (4) Neil ROBERTSON | 10-2 | Jamie JONES | |
| (3) DING Junhui | 10-7 | Mark DAVIS | |
| (14) John HIGGINS | 10-5 | Robert MILKINS | |
| (11) Marco FU | 10-6 | Jimmy ROBERTSON | |
| (6) Judd TRUMP | 10-6 | Stuart CARRINGTON | |
| (7) Ricky WALDEN | 8-10 | Graeme DOTT | |
| (10) Stuart BINGHAM | 10-7 | Robbie WILLIAMS | |
| (15) Mark WILLIAMS | 2-10 | Matthew STEVENS | |
| (2) Ronnie O'SULLIVAN | 10-3 | Craig STEADMAN |
SECOND ROUND Best of 25 frames
| (1) Mark SELBY | 9-13 | Anthony McGILL | |
| (9) Joe PERRY | 5-13 | Shaun MURPHY (8) | |
| (5) Barry HAWKINS | 13-11 | Mark ALLEN (12) | |
| (13) Ali CARTER | 5-13 | Neil ROBERTSON (4) | |
| (3) DING Junhui | 13-9 | John HIGGINS (14) | |
| (11) Marco FU | 8-13 | Judd TRUMP (6) | |
| Graeme DOTT | 5-13 | Stuart BINGHAM (10) | |
| Matthew STEVENS | 5-13 | Ronnie O'SULLIVAN (2) | |
QUARTER FINALS Best of 25 frames
| Anthony McGILL | 8-13 | Shaun MURPHY (8) | |
| (5) Barry HAWKINS | 13-12 | Neil ROBERTSON (4) | |
| (3) DING Junhui | 4-13 | Judd TRUMP (6) | |
| (10) Stuart BINGHAM | 13-9 | Ronnie O'SULLIVAN (2) |
SEMI FINALS Best of 33 frames
| (8) Shaun MURPHY | 17-9 | Barry HAWKINS (5) | |
| (6) Judd TRUMP | 16-17 | Stuart BINGHAM (10) |
CENTURIES
145 Neil Robertson, Stuart Bingham
143 Neil Robertson
142 Neil Robertson
141 Neil Robertson
139 Ronnie O'Sullivan
138 Shaun Murphy
137 Anthony McGill
135 Ricky Walden, Ding Junhui
133 Neil Robertson, Judd Trump
132 Zhang Anda
131 Barry Hawkins, Joe Perry
130 Neil Robertson
129 Neil Robertson, Judd Trump
127 Ali Carter, Shaun Murphy, Judd Trump
125 Anthony McGill, Shaun Murphy
124 Mark Selby
123 Stuart Bingham
122 Anthony McGill
121 Shaun Murphy (x3)
120 Mark Selby, Marco Fu
119 Neil Robertson
118 Ronnie O'Sullivan
116 Ronnie O'Sullivan
115 Matthew Stevens, Mark Allen, Neil Robertson (x2)
113 Judd Trump
112 Stuart Bingham
111 Matthew Stevens, Shaun Murphy, Judd Trump (x2)
110 Ronnie O'Sullivan
109 Neil Robertson, Matthew Selt, Ding Junhui, Judd Trump, Mark Allen, Barry Hawkins
108 Mark Selby, Barry Hawkins (x3), Judd Trump (x2)
106 Jimmy Robertson, John Higgins, Mark Davis, Shaun Murphy (x2), Stuart Bingham
105 Shaun Murphy (x2), Stuart Bingham
104 Ricky Walden, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stuart Bingham, Barry Hawkins (x2)
103 Ronnie O'Sullivan, Barry Hawkins (x2)
102 Matthew Selt, Stuart Bingham (x3), Barry Hawkins, Judd Trump
101 Mark Allen, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby
100 Stuart Bingham, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy
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