World Snooker Championship: Bingham beats Murphy 18-15

Stuart Bingham beat Shaun Murphy 18-15 in a gripping final at the Crucible to win his first World Championship.

Bingham began the final session with a 14-11 lead and won an epic 64-minute frame at 15-15 to close in on victory.

The 38-year-old made a break of 65 to go 17-15 in front and clinched the title with a brilliant 88.

Bingham, from Basildon, becomes the oldest snooker world champion since Welshman Ray Reardon won the title aged 45 in 1978.

He collected a winner's cheque for £300,000 and will rise from 10th to second in the world rankings.

"At one stage at 15-15 I thought I was going to do Shaun's [runner-up] speech," Bingham told BBC Sport. "It was a 64-minute frame to go 16-15 and that really calmed me down.

"To beat Shaun in the final tops everything off. Twenty years as professional - blood, sweat and tears on the road. Qualifying in places like Prestatyn and Malvern.

"So many family and friends have backed me. It is unbelievable."

The all-English final pitted 2005 champion Murphy against outsider Bingham, who surprised favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan as well as in-form Judd Trump and former champion Graeme Dott in previous rounds.

And Bingham, a 50-1 long-shot at the start of the tournament, held his nerve to become the oldest first-time winner at the Crucible.

Bingham had previously only once been past the second round at the Crucible - reaching the quarter-finals in 2013

Thirty years on from Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis's iconic final - which was won on the last black - both Bingham and Murphy played their part in another memorable title decider.

A breathtaking first day saw Murphy, from Nottingham, edge one frame ahead as the pair produced four centuries and 13 half-centuries.

Bingham did the damage in the third session on Monday, winning six of the eight frames to go in front at 14-11 and missing the last red when on for a maximum 147 break in the 20th frame.

He had the upper hand going into the final session but Murphy pulled a frame back, before Bingham's brilliant 102 under pressure put him three away from victory at 15-12.

Murphy, nicknamed 'The Magician', made breaks of 75 and 64 to level the contest at 15-15, but a missed yellow then proved decisive in a tense 31st frame.

Bingham crucially edged in front again after an hour-long battle and that spurred him on to make 55 in the next, before a missed red from Murphy opened up the table for his opponent to seal a famous victory.

Murphy said: "It's been a great fortnight for me. It's not finished the way I wanted it to.

"I came here well prepared and gave it my best as I always do and to come up against an inspired Stuart Bingham... sometimes your name is just on the trophy."