Murphy's Magic In Llandudno - World Grand Prix 2016

Shaun Murphy has won the sixth world snooker ranking title of his career, beating Stuart Bingham 10-9 from 4-1 down to win the World Grand Prix in Llandudno, Wales.

Read on for the full report...

Just 10 months after their epic World Snooker Championship final, it was a high-profile rematch between Stuart Bingham and Shaun Murphy in the final of the World Grand Prix in Llandudno, Wales.

Bingham, who beat Murphy last May to win his first world title at the Crucible, got off to a poor start as the Magician worked his magic to go 4-1 up, before ultimately being pegged back by Bingham who made runs of 55, 93 and 74 in the last three frames of the afternoon to take a 5-4 lead in to the evening.

When they resumed, neither 2005 world champion Murphy or Bingham could build up enough momentum to establish a strong lead, with frames shared all the way up to the final, deciding frame.

In the decider, Murphy knocked in a cracking long red from baulk and scoring 24 before running out of position and playing safe. He needed a third chance later in the frame, and kept Bingham in his chair by scoring a crucial 47 break to get over the line and win the World Grand Prix, bagging himself £100,000 and his sixth world ranking title.

The win moves Murphy up to fourth in the world rankings, provisionally in the same quarter of the draw as Ronnie O'Sullivan in the world championship seedings.

Although Bingham will be disappointed with how he played in the final, he'll be pleased at his overall level of play this week, winning quite a few close frames and generally potting well. 

Unfortunately for Bingham his good form didn't come earlier in the season, so he misses out on the next major ranking event, the PTC Grand Finals at Event City, Manchester. Murphy will no doubt be full of confidence, and favourite to pick up his second ranking title of the season.

World Grand Prix 2016 Final - Shaun Murphy 10-9 Stuart Bingham

First session: 
76-13, 66-50, 20-96 (68), 74-26, 93-4 (58)
62-77 29-61 (55), 5-101 (93), 56-80 (74)
Second session: 
6-69 (68), 62-40 (52), 72-19, 2-85, 94-0 (94)
79-23, 54-65, 120-0 (120), 2-84, 72-0

For all the results, scores and breaks from the World Grand Prix, head to Snooker.org.