It’s the first major of the decade involving a player who’s been trying to add to his biggest win since 2015 and a player who wasn’t even supposed to be in this tournament. In a final that most wouldn’t have anticipated, Stuart Bingham (14) came face-to-face against Ali Carter (17); which saw a contest that turned out to be pretty good, for the most part.
Breakdown
The opening mid-session was shared between the two players, although they both would have been disappointed that they didn’t gain a 3-1 lead. This included a 126 from Carter in Frame 1 and a 47, then 75 from Bingham in Frame 2. The last couple of frames didn’t follow the same pattern as the first two. Carter gets his last frame of the afternoon session with a 93 after Bingham missed to the left and right centre pockets in Frame 5.
Bingham made a 66 break to go 70-1 up in Frame 6 but could have saved himself some significant time and mental anguish if he was able to pot one more red. He allowed Carter to come close to stealing the frame with a couple fouls and free balls but Carter couldn’t hold position to clear the colours. Bingham eventually won on the black. Breaks of 50 then 46 pushed Bingham forward in Frame 7 and some fortunate aid from ball-run helped him establish a 5-3 lead.
Carter responded well in the commencement of the evening session as he swept the first four frames to develop a 7-5 lead. This consisted of a 95 and 133 in the latter frames but the first two frames of the evening took some time to win. The sharp centre pockets struck again as both players missed to the right in Frame 13 however, Bingham was able to make a break of 64 to get his first frame of the night.
Whatever happened to Bingham during the interval (which according to him comprised of a cup of coffee and a Mars bar) clearly had a significant impact as he continued his run with breaks of 85 and 58 in Frames 14 and 15, despite Carter being in first in the latter. An 88 from Bingham extended his lead to 9-7 but a twitch with the rest cost him the next frame as Carter stuck behind him with a 77. However, the 2015 world champion was able to shake it off as he won with a terrific 109 to close out this year’s Masters.
Afterthoughts
For someone who wasn’t originally scheduled to participate in this event, Carter had one incredible run to the final. This included victories over Masters Alumni, Selby, Higgins and Murphy. This freedom is likely what enabled him to perform as well as he did and like a Top 8 player. His scrappy, yet aggressive playstyle was effective throughout the week as he displayed why he belongs in the Masters. This approach would suit well when it comes to the World Championship so it’ll be interesting to see what happens to Carter’s form between now and then.
However, the Masters now has a new named etched into its history as Bingham becomes the 24th player to win this prestigious Triple Crown. He now completes Part 2 of his Triple Crown venture as he seeks a UK title to get a golden crown emblem on his waistcoat.
Despite his world title in 2015 and most people trying to write him off as one of those ‘shock’ champions, Bingham has had relative success since then (3 ranking titles), particularly at the Opens where he seems to perform fairly well. Bingham thoroughly enjoyed his time at the Masters this week as he got the crowd involved and showed how much progressing in each match meant to him. His record isn’t the best here but he was able to put that behind him with the best result he could ask for and 250 big ones.
The Masters final provided a dramatic contest which made the seemingly lacklustre week building towards it more worthwhile. There weren’t many top seeds or centuries but the little additions to the venue and overall atmosphere of Alexandra Palace/Masters were welcome changes. The sofas are a nice seating option to have but I’m still uncertain about the century club given the viewing distance from the table. Nevertheless, the fact that small changes are being made to make each event feel a little more unique, particularly the Triple Crowns, is a step in the right direction from World Snooker. Sorry, WST. Still need to get used to that.