Once again for this one I also have some extra “commentary”
if you like, as kindly provided by Stuart Bingham and I would like to thank him
once again for providing this.
Shaun started off this World Championship final in the same
way that he had played the rest of the tournament, thundering in a long red and
confidently playing for the black too. This part of his game and his scoring
had been the strongest area, just as it was 10 years ago when he won the title
previously. Unfortunately he had to play safe on 8 this time, but when Stuart’s
attempt to skim off of the pack went all wrong it left Shaun a golden
opportunity. A break of 68 left Stuart needing snookers and ultimately it was
enough to move 1-0 in front. Stuart’s first chance in ‘live’ play came in frame
two after a missed range attempt from Murphy, but after losing black ball
position on 17 he played safe. A smoothly struck long pot soon gave an
opportunity to Shaun to double his early advantage. A careless miss on 59 on
frame ball black denied him the opportunity to kill the frame off in one visit.
Stuart won the safety battle on the last three reds and he was clearing nicely
until coming up short on the pink, which he missed to the middle and left to
let Murphy off of the hook and allow him to go 2-0 in front. After spreading
reds all over the table at the beginning of frame three, Bingham missed a tough
long cutback yellow to hand a golden opening to Shaun. He made it look easy
from there with a break of 65 to storm into a 3-0 lead.
“Shaun was bulldozing everyone
in the tournament. I just kept believing everything I was doing was right”.
Frame four started with Murphy rattling a ball from distance
and Bingham potting a very good one to the middle to get the first chance. He
picked off the loose reds and then with some clever cannons opened up enough
balls to win the frame at one visit. In the end it turned into the first
century of the final with a 105 to get his first frame on the board and trail
1-3 going into the mid-session interval.
“The ton to go 1-3
really settled me down going into the interval”
After a scrappy start to frame five, the best chance fell to
Stuart when he was able to get blue and black back on their spots. Only one
cannon was needed in the break of 56 to follow which was enough to eventually
put him within one of Murphy at 2-3. Shaun picked out a red in the middle of
the bunch to the middle, giving him the first chance of frame six. On 36 he
played a brilliant top spin shot into the bunch to make it a frame winning
opportunity and he was disappointed not to make a century, missing a red to the
middle on 90 but the frame was in the bag to make it 4-2. When Shaun missed an
effort from long range in frame seven it cost him, as he left Stuart in from
close range. He only accumulated 22 on that occasion, though a second chance
did come along when Shaun let him off of the hook. Only another 15 was added
before he missed the yellow on the stretch. A miss on the blue from Shaun
handed Stuart the opportunity to finish the frame off and some fine cuts and
good positional play helped him over the line, and drawing closer again at 3-4
with one frame remaining in the first session. The Magician left Ballrun
Bingham the first clear cut scoring visit in the eighth frame. A run of 65
thereafter made it four of the last five frames in the session for Bingham to
get out of the opening offerings all square at 4-4.
“Getting out of that
first session 4-4 was a massive result for me.”
As session two started on Sunday evening, Stuart got the
scoring underway after rolling in a superb red for the black. When going into
the reds on 32 the split was by no means a bad one, yet the key moment came on
57 when he rattled his intended red and freed the bunch of four handing Shaun a
golden opportunity. On 32 he brought one of the reds off the cushion and on to
the middle, allowing him to complete a clearance to the pink of 74 and steal a
vital opening frame in the session to lead 5-4. Stuart again potted the first
red in frame ten but followed it by missing the blue with the rest to leave
Shaun another chance. With the black and blue not in good positions he had to
work with the pink but did so in expert fashion and by the time he fluked a red
to take the break to 70 it didn’t matter and the end result was his first
century of this final, a 106 putting him further ahead at 6-4. Stuart was let
in for the first chance once more in the eleventh after Murphy failed from long
range. He lost position on 14 and took on a speculative plant which, when he
missed, allowed Murphy in with a nice opening. The frame was soon opened up
when he went into the bunch on 24, and a stunning long blue on 74 kept hopes of
another century alive. A trick shot on the black completed a clearance of 121
to put him three clear at 7-4. In a repeat of the other three frames in the
session, Bingham had the first chance in frame twelve but again he could not
take advantage, having to play safe on just 41. Shaun won the safety battle
after some time and a huge chance was his to take the frame in one visit once
more. He went into the final four reds of the bunch but didn’t get the intended
split but was certainly back in control of the frame, five in front and with a
good safety shot to finish. A fantastic long red gave him the opportunity to
finish the frame off, which he did with an additional 51 to lead 8-4 at the
mid-session interval.
“At the interval I was
thinking ‘this just isn’t going to happen’, I went to the practice table, had a
red bull and bananas because I was just exhausted. At this point I thought that
coming out of the session 10-7 behind would be a result”.
Following the break, Stuart won a long safety battle to get
the first good chance and after some well-played early pots it soon became a
frame winning opportunity. A run of 76 was enough to leave Shaun needing
snookers and ultimately stop the rot for his first frame of the evening at 5-8.
In frame fourteen a long range miss from the Magician left Bingham in once more
and he made the most of it again putting together a 130 clearance for the third
century of the evening and his first to close some more at 6-8. In frame
fifteen Bingham started off with an early 24 before missing a red into the
yellow pocket. Stuart had the next chance as well though after rolling a
beautiful red into the middle and he had certainly found something in the
second half of this session, closing out another frame with a run of 89 making
it 7-8. In Frame sixteen Shaun potted his first ball for 30 minutes to get
going again, and when he went into the pack early on it started to look like a
decent opening. The eventual 76 he accumulated was enough to guarantee a lead
after the first day of the final with a 9-7 advantage and only one frame left
to play. He potted the first ball in the next with a stunning long red to stun
for the black, but with the cue ball closer to the cushion he missed the black
to leave the opportunity for Bingham. Stuart only contributed 8 before missing
the pink and leaving Murphy in. Shaun then added 21 to his score before falling
out of position after a long pot on the black, and being forced to play safe.
The next red he attempted from range missed by a long way and left all of the
reds on for Bingham to make a critical contribution this time. He built a lead
of 39 with 43 but could not clinch the frame with a double attempt with safety
in mind. A cross double on the penultimate red from Stuart ended the safety
battle and proved enough to win the frame and somehow come out of the evening
session only a frame adrift at 8-9.
“After coming out on
Sunday night at 9-8 down I got 7 hours sleep which was the best night’s sleep I
had had. The next morning a couple of my friends said I looked fresher. I think
that won me the tournament”.
In the third session on Bank holiday Monday afternoon,
Stuart Bingham had the first decent scoring visit after another brilliant pot
from range to get in. From there he made the rest look easy with an 87 to level
the match for the first time since the end of session one, at 9-9. Shaun had
the first chance in frame nineteen and he made a decent 30 before missing a red
when trying to turn it over with side, leaving a chance for Stuart. He went
into the bunch from the first blue, splitting all of the remaining reds and the
pink making it an excellent chance. He made 51 before missing a simple red with
the rest and sticking it up for Murphy. He then potted the red and black, but
missed a very tough last red along the cushion, and even though it ran safe,
Stuart was able to play an easy snooker. Bingham won the safety battle after
Murphy attempted the red from distance and missed, and Stuart did the rest to
lead for the first time in the match at 10-9. He rolled in another superb long
red in frame twenty and after a few reds and blacks attention already turned to
the maximum with the reds nicely positioned. The sixth black was tough but he
knocked it in without any problem to keep the break going. The break made it
all the way to 112 with 14 reds and 14 blacks before he stuck to the red when
trying to bring it off of the cushion and was unable to pot it. In the scheme
of the match though maximums do not matter, what mattered was that Stuart was
now two clear at 11-9. Shaun had the first chance in frame twenty-one but he
missed a blue to the corner he’d have expected to get a large percentage of the
time which left a chance for Stuart. 50 came from the opportunity before he jawed
a tricky red that was left after he went into the reds. The second wind came
when Shaun missed a long shot and the red came back to open the remaining
balls, and from that Stuart was able to do enough to move 12-9 in front at the
mid-session interval, having won all of the four frames in the session so far
and 8 of the last 9 in the match overall.
The Magician needed to do his stuff after the interval to
stay in the match and he had the confidence to start proceedings with a great
long red stunning around for the black into the same pocket. He constructed a
determined 59 before wobbling a red up into the baulk corner pocket. Shaun’s
second chance came after potting another red from range and with plenty of reds
on he was able to stop a run of five frames lost in a row and make it 10-12.
Both players missed gettable balls at the start of frame twenty-three as they
looked to earn the first scoring visit. It was Murphy’s miss that proved costly
though as Bingham went on to make a break of 87 to re-establish his three frame
cushion 13-10 ahead. A wonderful long red gave Shaun the chance to make amends
in frame twenty-four. The balls were all open from the safety play so he had
plenty to go at, and he swiftly took advantage of this building 84 to close the
gap to two again at 11-13, meaning with one frame left in the session he would
either be only one behind or three behind coming back in the evening. In that
final frame of the session Stuart Bingham kept up the unbelievable standard of
scoring in this final. He made 57 from his initial chance but then a missed
yellow soon after gave Shaun a chance sitting 58 behind with 75 remaining. He
failed to take advantage though missing a green that he tried to power into the
middle and allowing Bingham to kill off the frame and lead 14-11 ahead of the
evening’s final session.
“Back at the hotel
before the final session I remember saying to my wife ‘I don’t to go out there,
it’s just hit me. I have the chance to do what I’ve wanted to do for 20 years’.
I remember looking down at my feet during the walk-ons for the final session
and thinking ‘Don’t trip’. Normally I’d be at home watching this and now it was
me doing it. When I was sat watching Shaun walk out I thought ‘this is what I’m
used to’.”
After the extra special introductions and some early safety
play, the first scoring chance came to Shaun after a nice long red. 33 was
accumulated before snookering himself on his intended red after his cannon
didn’t go as planned. Bingham missed his opportunity and Shaun was able to
build his lead up to 65 with 67 remaining before a cut from range allowed him
to seal the first frame of the evening and close to 12-14. Stuart had the
chance to re-take his three frame lead after thundering in a red from range
early in frame twenty-seven. With the black not on its spot and the pink out of
play for the early parts of the break it was a tough break under pressure for
Stuart to construct in terms of positional play. Getting the right side of the
blue was something he failed to do on a few occasions but he was able to
recover each time and keep the break going. In remarkable fashion he ended up
making a 102 century break to regain his three frames lead at 15-12 and send
out a message to Murphy. Stuart had the early scoring visits again in the
twenty-eighth. Somewhat surprisingly, having built up a 55 point lead he missed
an easy black to leave Shaun in with a chance. If Bingham had sent out a
message the frame before with his century the clearance that Murphy made here
sent out an entirely different response and really kept him in the match at
13-15. Stuart’s miss allowed Shaun another chance in frame twenty-nine with
reds open and the black available. A break of 64 should’ve been enough but an
in-off allowed Bingham to come back for snookers but Shaun did gone on to
reduce the gap to just one at the mid-session interval trailing 14-15.
After the break Shaun survived a let off as Bingham missed a
chance to get in after Murphy had missed a blue to end his break of 14. The
Magician added another 38 before missing another red, but covering it with the
black after leaving it in the jaws. Bingham’s swerve failed though bring Shaun
back for a third bite of the cherry which was enough on this occasion to kill
the frame off and level the match for the first time since 9-9, at 15-15 and
you could sense that both players were feeling the pressure but particularly
Stuart.
Frame thirty-one was an event in its own right. After a
scrappy opening with players potting reds with no colour and both players
conceding foul points also, Bingham was able to put a mini 19 together before
getting an unlucky result from a decent split of the bunch from the blue. A
huge slice of bad luck then went against Bingham as he potted a great long red,
clipped a red off of the bottom cushion and went in-off to leave an easy
starter for Shaun. He cleared the remaining reds and led by 14 coming down to
the yellow only needing it, green and brown to make it four on the spin but
putting side onto the yellow he missed it much to Stuart’s relief. Bingham then
played a superb snooker behind the black and one that Murphy had great
difficulty in getting out of. 30 points in fouls were conceded before he eventually
got out of the snooker, putting Stuart 14 ahead. The safety continued for a
long while after that until Stuart played another outstanding snooker behind
the green yielding 8 more points to put him 22 in front. Unfortunately for the
2005 champion a later snooker escape left the yellow on and with the green
close to its pocket Stuart was able to pot both easily and leave Murphy
requiring a 2 snookers on the brown. He played on and potted the brown when the
chance came, meaning it was now only one snooker to tie on the blue. With the
frame having gone on for an hour at this stage Bingham asked the referee to go
out for a toilet break and as both players left the arena I too at home was
able to relieve myself having been desperate for about half an hour. Potting
the blue left one snooker to win on the pink but as Bingham kept putting the
pink close to the pocket it was very tough to get one and eventually the pink
was potted by Stuart to make it 16-15.
“At 15-15 I thought
this wasn’t going to happen for me, but when he missed the yellow when he
looked like clearing up I put him in a tough snooker and he barely saw the
yellow for the next few visits. Then there was the infamous toilet break. I had
been desperate for 15 minutes, I didn’t want to sit down. I just turned to
Olivier Marteel and said ‘I’ve got to go’. When me and Shaun both got back the
crowd were smiling and laughing about it and that helped to break the tension for
me”.
Bingham certainly took confidence from the previous frame
judging by his long pot to get in at the start of frame thirty-two. Some good
pressure pots kept his break going, and he held himself together well
considering how close he was getting to going within a frame of victory. The
break ended on 55 though as he couldn’t keep the clutch potting going, but when
Murphy had an ambitious attempt at a red down the cushion and left it for
Stuart he had a second chance but with the remaining reds safe he could only
pot red and pink to move 66 ahead with 75 still remaining if Murphy forced an
opening. After more safety Stuart grabbed the red he needed to clinch the frame
and take himself a frame away from a World Championship title at 17-15. An
ambitious long attempt from the Magician didn’t come off and as the cue ball
careered into other reds it left Ballrun Bingham a golden opportunity to try
and kill the match off. It was all about holding it together now, and it wasn’t
easy as you could see by certain positional shots being under-hit as naturally
his arm would have tightened up under the nerves. A break of 88 under the
circumstances was phenomenal and gave Stuart Bingham everything that he
deserved in an 18-15 victory in this World Championship final that will live
long in the memory and was certainly the best match in the snooker year of
2015.
“It helped to play a
good friend like Shaun. After one of the afternoon sessions we were all going
back to the hotel and he was walking just in front of me holding hands with his
fiancé Elaine and I went to hold his other hand and he skipped back to the
hotel with me. Anyone that saw that must have wondered what we were doing!!
Shaun deserves to be a 2 time World Champion”.
I would like to thank Stuart for his wonderful contributions to this feature, and to all of you who have read and enjoyed another year of classic matches here on the blog. Here's to many more in 2016.
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