Snooker World Championship final: Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham top century mark

The fashion-conscious cueman was dressed for success and after a seesaw session he led Stuart Bingham, the man who beat Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump, by a slender 9-8 margin.

Murphy was magnificent in the early evening, firing breaks of 74, 106, 121 and 51 in sweeping through the four frames before the interval to lead 8-4. Dramatically there was a twist in store, with Bingham making 76, 123 and 89 in a rapid burst of scoring to take three quick frames.

Murphy ploughed in 76, but back again came 38-year-old first-time finalist Bingham to take the last of the night. The underdog’s efforts even earned a tribute from former tennis star Martina Navratilova, who wrote on Twitter: “Stuart Bingham rocks:)”

Stuart Bingham rocks:)

— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) May 3, 2015

The impressive scoring meant a Crucible record fell, as the tournament total of centuries reached 84, one better than the previously highest mark set in 2009.

Ten years on from landing the Crucible title as a 150-1 outsider, Murphy is playing with sky-high confidence and feels ready to carry off the trophy again. This is his third visit to the final, with victory over Matthew Stevens in 2005 and defeat to John Higgins four years later his previous showings.

“I’ve had so many good experiences at the Crucible that they vastly outweigh the bad ones,” Murphy said. “With my self-belief renewed in the last couple of seasons I’m looking ahead to good times.

The finalists are close friends and Murphy said coming into the title tussle: “What Stuart has achieved here this fortnight is unbelievable. I’m really pleased for him, he’s a good mate of mine, and what he’s done is great stuff for him.

“He’s a fantastic scorer and a fantastic break-builder and it’ll be my job to try to use my experience and maybe keep him in the long grass as much as I can to try to stop him  settling. But once he builds up a head of steam he’s very difficult to stop.”

Bingham, 38, dreamt of World Championship finals as a youngster, but a poor record at snooker’s marquee tournament almost led him to give up hope of fulfilling that ambition. “Just to be in the world final, that means so much,” he said. “At the age I am, maybe I won’t get many other chances. Shaun has probably got a good few finals left in him but for me it might be my one and only so I’ll try to make it count.”