Ken Doherty believes last night's World Snooker championship final will go down as one of the best ever.
Stuart Bingham beat Shaun Murphy 18-15 in an epic finale to become the oldest first-time winner of the tournament.
Doherty, the 1997 world champion, told Off The Ball that it had almost everything you would want in a decider.
"It was one of the best we've ever had. I know it didn't go down to the wire like 30 years ago to the black ball or anything like that but the standard of the snooker was fantastic with the atmosphere, the tension and the drama," he said.
"It had everything that you'd want in a world final and it was getting very exciting towards the end. It was only one really bad frame that lasted and it turned out to be the pivotal frame of the match, which was the 31st frame to go 16-15 for Stuart Bingham. If Murphy had won that, I couldn't see Bingham winning it. It sort of broke Murphy's momentum and gave Bingham that extra bit of confidence."
He also believes Bingham's victory at the age of 38 is a good story for the sport.
"He was a very worthy winner and no-one would dispute that. He's a very likeable lad - 20 years a pro and eventually lifts the trophy," said Doherty.
"It's amazing how well he's done in the late '30s and that's what makes this win all the more special. That's why I think the emotion of it - he got very emotional after [beating] Ronnie O'Sullivan and after Judd Trump - and the wave of emotion even took over the crowd. You could tell from the crowd when he walked out as opposed to when Murphy walked out."
