STUART Bingham won a pulsating Welsh Open final 9-8 as he defeated Judd Trump in the final frame to secure his fourth ranking title.

Both players were deserving of the top prize of £70,000 but it was Bingham that took his first title since the 2015 World Championships.

The Bowers Gifford player made a barnstorming start to the match – moving into a 4-0 lead against Trump.

That, following his 6-0 demolition of Robert Milkins on Saturday, made it 10 frames on the bounce for Bingham.

But Trump was to fight back after the mid-session interval, winning the next two frames.

Bingham moved three frames clear with a break of 87 – the highest of the first session.

And he could have restored his four frame advantage ahead of the evening session with only the pink and black remaining and just five points between the players in frame eight.

But Bingham’s audacious double hit the jaws of the centre pocket leaving Trump to close the gap to 5-3.

Both players took a frame each in the opening of the evening session, before Trump levelled the scores at 6-6, in the first to nine clash.

Bingham maintained his record of keeping ahead in the encounter from the onset as he won the 13th frame but Trump edged the next to make it 7-7 with three to play.

And he then took the lead for the first time to move to within a frame of victory.

It looked as though Bingham had missed his chance as Trump forged ahead in the penultimate frame, but a missed red handed the 40-year-old a chance to pull level.

After a long spell in which both men played a number of safety shots, Bingham sent the match to a decider.

And Bingham rallied to earn the victory, having lost two of his last three finals in the deciding frame.