Final a dream despite defeat, says Shaun Murphy

Shaun Murphy says reaching a third World Championship final was "more than a dream come true", despite losing 18-15 to Stuart Bingham.

The 2005 champion came out second best in a fascinating Crucible encounter, which he led both 3-0 and 8-4 on day one, before being edged out by a brilliant Bingham on Monday.

Murphy came close to retiring last year following a string of disappointing results, but has since been crowned Masters champion and says his latest run in Sheffield serves as a further boost to his confidence.

"It's not that long ago that I was considering going off and doing something else," he said as he collected the runner-up prize of £125,000.

"To have got back to the world final and won the Masters a few months ago is more than a dream come true. I'm blown away."

And Murphy said he had learned from his previous title win in 2005, adding: "At 22 you think you know everything on and off the table.

"I was a bit of a know-all," he added.

"I was wrong, big time.

"It's taken me 10 years to go through that process, to learn about life and come back a better person."