Snooker news: Stuart Bingham wins The Masters for first time in enthralling final against Ali Carter

Bingham led at the halfway stage, but Carter came out all guns blazing after the interval, winning four frames on the bounce to turn the final on its head from 5-3 down to 7-5 up.

A century break in the 12th frame seemed to give all the momentum to Carter, but Bingham finally got on the board in the evening session’s fifth frame.

That reignited ‘The Ball-Run’ and he went on a four-frame run of his own.

The quality of snooker, which wasn’t the highest earlier on in the match, peaked late on as both men found their top form, but Bingham sealed it with a century break – his first of the tournament – to wrap up a 10-8 victory.

Bingham’s win earns him a quarter-of-a-million pounds and makes him the oldest Masters champion in the history of the sport at 43.

After his victory Bingham joined Joe Perry, Jimmy White and Colin Murray in the Eurosport studio.

“I ain’t got a clue where that’s come from those last five or six frames,” Bingham said. “Something seemed to click and a sort of calmness came over me and it just happened.

“It just seemed to click. The way the first four frames tonight went, I was missing stupid balls. But the first two frames back Ali missed a couple and then I got in my rhythm.

“The trophy is for Mum and Dad. Just everyone really,” added Bingham as he shed a quiet tear.

Stuart Bingham came back from some unfortunate errors on Sunday to take a 5-3 lead over Ali Carter in the Masters final, at the end of the first session.

Bingham did not make it easy for himself at times during an afternoon session littered with as many errors as moments of world-class quality.

Carter showed intent by opening with a century break, but the evenly-fought contest was at level pegging after the first four frames. Tension set in during the fifth as Bingham gave away an opportunity to creep ahead. Bingham, perhaps thinking he was already over the line, suffered a momentary lapse in concentration that saw control given back to Carter. A lengthy frame ensued, but Bingham drew level again in the end as the pair went into the mid-session break.

Back in action and Bingham wasted no time in taking the lead in the seventh frame, clearly keen to make up for earlier errors.

Carter fought back in the eighth frame after Bingham gave away another lead, determined to level the score again before the end of the session, though some preposterously lucky shots saw Bingham take the frame to stand himself in good stead for the final session on Sunday, with a 5-3 lead.

The two Masters final debutantes will play the final session to best-of-19 from 19:00 on Sunday evening, with live coverage on Eurosport.