STUART Bingham suffered a narrow defeat to Ryan Day as he missed out on the inaugural Romanian Masters title.

The Bowers Gifford professional snooker star was condemned to a 10-8 loss against the Welshman following a nail-biting final in the Romanian capital of Bucharest.

Bingham went into the clash looking to claim his first piece of silverware since winning the Welsh Open crown 13 months ago.

And the 41-year-old got off to the best possible start, as he raced into a 4-0 lead in the best-of-19 frames encounter.

Bingham registered two half-century breaks early on to put himself in a commanding position.

However, Day brought himself back into contention for the title by coming out on top in each of the next three frames.

Bingham registered 52 points in the fifth frame, but Day notched 10 points more to get himself on the scoreboard.

And half-century breaks in consecutive frames allowed Day to reduce the arrears.

However, Bingham gave himself a two-frame cushion by claiming a break of 124.

But Day took the next two frames to bring the scores level at 5-5.

Following the interval, Day got the second session off to an impressive start as he moved into the lead for the first time in the inaugural Romanian Masters final.

But the lead was to change hands quickly, as another half-century break allowed Bingham to draw level before regaining his advantage in the following frame.

Day took the 14th frame but Bingham was in impressive form the next time he returned to the table.

The former world champion, who recently returned from a ban due to breaking betting laws, recorded his second century break of the clash, as he registered a break of 111 while Day failed to register a single point.

Day drew level at 8-8 thanks to another half-century break before restoring and not relinquishing his advantage.

The Welshman moved to within one frame of getting his hands on the crown.

And Bingham - who booked his place in the final after coming from behind to secure a 5-2 win over fellow Essex favourite Ali Carter in the semi-finals - was to end the encounter with a third consecutive frame loss as Day assured he would come away victorious.

As a result, Bingham’s wait for another title goes on as he suffered his second final defeat of the season, having missed out on the European Masters crown to Judd Trump in October.