I’ve been lucky enough to speak to Stuart and get some
comments from him reminiscing on this amazing match so look out for those as I get
to the key points in the timeline of this match…
“I went to watch the
walk-ons in the afternoon in the Murphy Vs Hawkins match to try and settle my
nerves and get a feel for the atmosphere”.
I could certainly have thought of worse ideas before the
beginning of this huge semi-final clash as anything that can settle you down
before a match like this is a huge bonus. All Stuart could do at the start of the
opening frame was watch and smirk as Judd fluked a red to get in after a
wayward long attempt. After a plant left him on no colour on 4 he played a
tough snooker with plenty of reds out in the open. Bingham’s escape left one on
but Judd’s miss handed that opportunity over to Stuart. An easy red missed on
22 was perhaps a sign of the early nerves in this massive occasion for both
players. Judd made a nice 49 from the chance that was left but was unable to
remove the reds from the side cushion to kill the frame off in one visit. After
a long safety battle, a risky safety from Stuart didn’t pay off leaving the
chance for Judd to clear and take the opening frame. A missed early blue in
frame two handed another good chance to Judd with reds spread and ready to be
picked off. He made 64 from the chance and looked like easing over the line
until a careless miss on frame ball left a chance for Stuart to steal the
frame. A fantastic pot on the penultimate red put him in a great position to
continue the clearance. The 65 made to steal the frame and make it 1-1 was huge
in the context of the match as Bingham was able to settle and feel a part of
the semi-final on his first appearance in the Crucible’s one-table set-up.
“I could’ve been 2-0
down there but that clearance in the second frame helped me to settle down
after that”.
Judd hit back early in frame three with a magnificent long
red, followed by a long blue to keep the break going and get the first opening.
On 19 he chanced his arm at a very risky red opening up the others, and when it
rattled it left plenty for Stuart. Ballrun had a huge slice of luck when a
missed green came back and cannoned the cue ball behind the brown. The frame
started to turn scrappy as both players were only able to manage small
contributions before losing ideal position and missing. It came down to the
final red with only three points between the scores. Judd fluked the last red
and added the black to lead by five before the battles continued on the yellow
this time. Stuart potted yellow but had to play safe on the green so the frame
was a long way from being over still. Some good safety was played until Bingham
caught the green too thick and left it on for Trump. He had to take the pink
from mid-range but when that dropped it was enough for Judd to take a scrappy
frame and lead 2-1.
A nice long red allowed Stuart the first chance in frame
four and he fell nicely on the pink, but with the black on the side cushion it
was by no means a golden opportunity. The break still wasn’t easy when he got
the black back on its spot as he had to play some good shots on the blue in and
out of baulk around the angles, and a very tricky pink took him to virtually
the winning line in the frame. A magnificently well worked 89 was the end
result, ensuring he went into the mid-session interval all square at 2-2.
After the break Bingham had the first chance to score but
miss-judged whether a red potted and when he missed, an easy starter was left
for Judd, only for Judd to do the same shortly afterwards and hand the chance
straight back. 49 followed from Stuart but a miss down the cushion with the
rest stopped him sealing the frame at that visit. When Judd’s chance came he
cleared the remaining reds bar one, which he nudged out from the pink which he
missed to the middle. That allowed Stuart back to clear the remaining balls he
needed to lead for the first time at 3-2. In frame six Trump was in first,
making a contribution of 56 before failing to open the reds from the blue.
Stuart had his chance after a missed red from distance by Trump. He cleared the
remaining reds well splitting the black and final red from the bottom cushion
using the penultimate red. From there he was able to clear in style with a run
of 74 to lead 4-2 with two frames left of the session. Trump needed to hit back
to avoid a first session deficit, and again in frame seven he had the opening
scoring visit. It wasn’t an easy table to score heavily from and the cue ball
was having to do some mileage with mainly blue and baulk colours being in use.
Once the black and pink were in play it became a good chance to win the frame
in one visit, and that was soon achieved as he closed the gap to 4-3. At an
early stage in the match you still felt the final frame would be key,
particularly for Bingham in his first Crucible semi-final. A devilish snooker
from Bingham earned him the opening chance with reds spread far and wide and
high value colours in play. What followed was a very cool and calm 76 to win
the first session 5-3 coming back the next day.
When the pair returned on Friday afternoon, the first frame
was scrappy with scoring not proving easy, but it was Judd who was dominant.
With 5 reds left he had built up a lead of 32. A wayward shot from Trump left
Stuart an easy starter as he looked to counter. With the final three reds
around the black spot negotiated, the remainder was easy as a run of 52 to the
pink put him further in front at 6-3. In frame ten a decent distance pot
followed by a split on the reds from the blue that he nailed, Judd has a great
scoring chance. A quick fire 113 finished off with some ‘naughty snooker’ soon
had Trump back at just two behind, 4-6. Stuart had a massive chance in frame
eleven and he was looking good to win the frame until an unexpected miss on 46
left Judd right in to possibly steal the frame. Very nice pots on green and
brown pretty much completed the clearance to get another huge frame back and
only trail 5-6. Judd missed a black off of the spot early in frame twelve which
handed a nice early opportunity over to the 2014 Shanghai Masters champion.
From that chance he built a 58 point lead with 59 remaining. After a poor
safety though Bingham got the second chance to kill the frame off and take a
7-5 advantage into the break.
After a long safety battle at the start of the thirteenth,
Bingham had the first opportunity and with plenty of reds open and the black
stopping short of going into the middle pocket, it looked like a nice opening.
A big bounce on 54 left him out of position on the pink, which he missed to
leave Judd in. A miss with the rest let Bingham off the hook, but when he
returned the favour needed to capitalise. An excellent positional shot from the
pink gave him half a chance at the final red along the bottom cushion, but
playing it with pace Trump rattled it, while Ballrun knocked it in in style and
ended up winning a key frame to lead 8-5. Once again Stuart knocked in a nice
red in frame fourteen and avoided knocking the black in the corner to end in
nice position. He broke down on 35 after his pack opener yielded nothing to
continue the break with. A huge safety error from Stuart, catching the red too
thin and careering into the pack of reds opened the frame right up for Trump.
He built a lead of 10 but with two reds remaining it was still anyone’s frame.
The left hander also had the next chance and managed to bring the final red off
of the side cushion in some style, yet from that red he wasn’t able to come
around the table far enough to finish on a baulk colour and he was forced to
play safe 17 ahead with 27 remaining. A miraculous long cut on the yellow left
him perfect on the green shortly after to potted the balls needed to finish off
the frame and pull another frame back at 6-8.
The best chance in frame fifteen fell to Stuart after a
missed green to the middle from Judd. With the reds all open and pink in play
it soon became routine stuff for Bingham and he guaranteed a lead after the two
sessions by going 9-6 ahead with one frame to play courtesy of an 85 break. It
was important for Trump that to stop Stuart running away with things, he
managed to get the last frame to stay within two. When a golden chance came his
way in frame sixteen, and already with a lead of 22 he just had to take
advantage. The quick fire contribution of 64 made more than certain of the
frame, meaning that he would sleep on Friday night only 9-7 adrift of Bingham.
A wonderful red into the baulk corner gave Stuart the first
scoring opportunity of the third session on Saturday morning. When he went into
the pack from the black on just 7, he was unlucky to knock a red straight in the
middle and leave all of the reds for Judd. He was quickly in full flow and had
the frame sealed with the minimum of fuss for 8-9. Trump had the first opening
again in frame eighteen looking to equalise with Bingham. Again there was a
minimum of fuss or worry to Judd’s game as a 91 break levelled the match up
again at 9-9.
After Judd had made 22 earlier in the frame, a nice chance
fell to Bingham after cutting a red into the middle. A break of 67 left Judd
needing to get a snooker on the final two reds, and when that was not obtained
Stuart went back in front 10-9. After an earlier 24 broke down due to loss of
position, Judd gifted Stuart a chance to build on this lead and finish the
frame off. An additional 62 was more than enough to do that job and retain his
two frame lead going into the mid-session break 11-9 ahead.
The first frame back from the interval started to get a
little scrappy after Bingham’s break of 26 ended and a battle of safety ensued.
Judd could only make 16 from the chances he had, while an additional 35 from
Bingham when his second chance came put him three clear now at 12-9. In frame
twenty-two a fantastic chance came Stuart’s way once again, and once he went
into the pack off of the yellow the reds were at his mercy. A break of 59 left
Judd needing snookers and meant that Bingham had now won four frames in a row
to lead 13-9 with just two frames left of the third session on Saturday
morning.
“Everything he threw
at me I could handle because I knew I was scoring well and I kept believing in
what I was doing… I remember him throwing his arm at a few… I think he thought
he was done”.
Stuart’s attempt at a red into the middle early in frame
twenty-three somehow didn’t drop, and was left waiting for Judd to gift him a
nice opening. He made 44 before missing a difficult red near the black cushion,
and when Ballrun was able to make a red along the same cushion the chance was
his. It became a golden chance when he obtained a favourable split on the reds
from another red and followed with a blue to the corner to continue the break.
The sticking point came on 56, leading by 12 with 35, as he was unable to get
in a position to pot the final red. Judd potted the final red but failing to get
nice position on a colour he played a very nasty looking snooker behind the
black. Bingham’s escape on that occasion was superb, but from two later
snookers he went on to give away 36 points in fouls leaving Judd 25 points
ahead with 27 on. Bingham earned four of these back from a snooker of his own,
from which Trump also left the yellow on. He potted yellow, green and brown but
couldn’t land on the blue and was forced to play safe with a 12 point deficit.
After another foul and a mid-range pot on the blue, Stuart rattled and left the
pink on to hand Trump the frame on a plate and very importantly, stop the rot
to trail only 13-10 with one frame in the session remaining.
After a very long safety battle in the twenty-fourth, the scoring
chance fell to Trump after a very high risk plant attempt at range from Stuart.
A break of 65 was enough to ensure that we would still come out of this session
4-4 and only trail 13-11 going into the fourth and final session on Saturday
evening.
An opening 40 from Bingham in the evening was halted when he
wobbled the pink in the jaws, and Trump’s middle distance pot gave him an
opportunity to counter. Judd closed the gap by 27 before missing an even easier
pink to the middle, but as Stuart was unable to land on either of the final two
reds safety ensued with Bingham 16 ahead with 43 remaining. A well placed long
red put him 22 ahead with 35 remaining but again the cannon on the final red
didn’t help him to kill the frame off. A foul and a free ball allowed Stuart to
extend that lead to 34, before he finally potted the final red to extend his
lead again, this time to 14-11. A neat cut saw Trump in first in frame
twenty-six, from which a frame winning break quickly grew when Judd’s split of
the reds was also perfectly executed. The result was a run of 88 to get that
frame back in this nip and tuck contest at 12-14. After a scrappy start to the
twenty-seventh Judd made a nice contribution of 50 to leave him leading by 58
with 67 on before a kick on virtually frame ball cost him. Judd then cut a very
thin red into the middle only to go straight in-off leaving him 54 in front
with 59 on. A missed long pot from Stuart did hand Judd a chance to finish the
frame off and close to within one at 13-14. A lovely chance fell Bingham’s way in
the next as he made a brilliant long plant to give him a chance in the balls. He
looked fluent again amongst the reds and a century break of 106 certainly
proved that as he went into the final mid-session break leading Trump 15-13.
“At this point the
nerves started to hit me. I tried to keep it together but I could feel my arm
tighten arm under the nerves”.
The number one chance post-interval went Judd’s way after he
calmly rolled a red into the middle pocket to get in. He was into the bunch
early from the blue, and the split he earned was favourable for his chances of
killing the frame in one turn. A quick fire 76 made sure Stuart wasn’t getting
too far ahead of himself only leading now by an odd frame at 14-15. Trump
missed a gettable long pot in frame thirty, and the red went up the other table
to leave his opponent an easy starter. Once again Bingham looked composed as he
was nearing the winning line, and he was always in control of the cue ball as a
magnificent break of 102 put him a frame away from his first ever World final
at 16-14. He had the first chance in frame thirty-one but when he went into the
pack from the blue, the impact was perfect, but he landed on absolutely nothing
cutting the contribution at just 14.
“I remember getting
the chance at 16-14, going into the pack from the blue, landing on nothing and
just thinking ‘what if this doesn’t happen, what if this isn’t my night’”.
He then went for a very risky red which it turned out he
couldn’t see enough of, and the shot left the table wide open for Judd. Trump
responded in the way you would expect a player like him to respond, hammering a
century of his own with a 108 break closing the gap to 15-16. A trademark Trump
red from range, screwing back for the yellow offered up an opportunity to force
a decider. On 9 he decided to plough through the reds from another red,
finishing on the black and getting a superb spread. Bingham was soon fearing
the worst, as Judd killed the frame off with consecutive centuries, a 129 on
this occasion to force a deciding frame at 16 all.
“He made two centuries
to force the decider like the class player he is”.
In the deciding frame, a long pot from Bingham gave him the
first points scoring opportunity of the frame, but the position of the balls
wasn’t ideal for heavy scoring. He missed a thin blue having only built a 16
point lead giving Judd his first outing amongst the reds in this frame but a
kick ruined any chance of a break with only a red and blue potted.
“I was keeping it
tight, just trying not to make a silly mistake. When Judd had his chance I remember
him coming up like he had a kick”
This allowed Bingham a second opportunity, from which he
added a further 27 to move into a 37 point lead and take a controlling position
on the frame with 75 still remaining. An absolutely fantastically worked out
plant down the bottom cushion, leaving nothing if he missed, gave Stuart the
chance he needed to seal the match off with the healthy lead on his side
already. He was able to clear to the final two reds which was plenty to seal
the match, with that plant effectively the match winner for an amazing 17-16
victory.
“It was a 1 in 50
plant. I went for it as a sort of shot to nothing knowing I would be covering the
red with another red”.
It was close almost all through the match and both players
showed their class when it really mattered. To miss out by one frame for Judd
was heart-breaking while you could see Stuart’s delight as he fist pumped to
the crowd whilst, after graciously applauding Judd as he left the arena. A
gentlemanly end from a brilliant guy after a true Crucible classic.
“Emotions were running
high afterwards as everyone could see in the videos of me afterwards getting a
bit emotional”.
I would just like to thank Stuart once again for kindly
offering comments on this game, and I hope you are all ready to come back
tomorrow and find out who will take the bronze medal in the Classic Matches of
2015 contest.
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