By Luke Baker

STUART Bingham’s 20-year professional snooker career has been a rollercoaster but he is adamant that becoming world champion makes all the downs worthwhile.

Despite turning pro in 1995, it took Bingham until 2011 to win his first ranking event and four years later he beat Shaun Murphy 18-15 in a gripping World Championship final.

The 38-year-old was a 50-1 outsider for the title before the tournament but becomes the oldest first-time winner of the trophy in Crucible Theatre history.

The turning point came at 15-15 on Monday evening when a 63-minute frame was eventually won by Bingham after both players took a mid-frame toilet break.

At 16-15 up he then made runs of 55 and 88 to ensure it was his name that would go down in the history books.

And the Basildon potter admits he is still yet to come to terms with his triumph.

“I never thought this day would come – you dream of it when you’re a kid practising and starting out but it’s reality now. It’s absolutely unreal,” said Bingham.

“To beat Shaun in the final tops everything else – it’s incredible.

“It means everything to me – 20 years as a pro, blood sweat and tears and on the road. It has just been unbelievable.

“I just went from strength to strength through the tournament – I beat Graeme Dott, Ronnie [O’Sullivan] and Judd [Trump] and then beat the second best man in the tournament in Shaun!

“I might not have been here but for Judd getting a kick when in amongst the balls in our semi-final but sometimes your name is just on the trophy.”

For his part, Murphy misses out on winning the tournament for a second time, exactly a decade after his first triumph.

The Nottingham-based cueman led 3-0 and 8-4 but was continually pegged back by Bingham.

The 32-year-old was incredibly gracious in defeat, admitting he lost to the better man, but suspects the full disappointment is yet to hit him.

“It’s a funny one because I’ll probably feel worse tomorrow,” Murphy explained after the defeat.

“I’m disappointed obviously because no-one wants to lose in the final of the World Championship but he played like a champion throughout the tournament.

“When I went 8-4 up he never balked at it and he played like a winner throughout.

“Sometimes in sport people are meant to win things and the way Stuart is –he’s a massive fan of the game. He loves snooker more than life itself. He fully deserves to win this tournament.”

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