Month: April 2016

Bingham wants Fu to beat Selby as he bids to be world No 1

Post author By James Colasanti
Post date April 30, 2016

STUART BINGHAM says he would love to see his old amateur rival Marco Fu replace him as snooker’s world champion this year.

Ball Run won the world amateur title in 1996 then lost that crown following an 11-10 defeat in the final in Zimbabwe to Fu the following year.

And after his Crucible win in 2015, Bingham pointed out the symmetry of their progress to Fu and suggested it was only reasonable to assume his own 19-year wait to win the big one would end in 2016.

Bingham said: “I spoke to Marco at the Crucible last year and said it would be his turn next year, and I hope that is right because he is an unbelievable talent and a really nice guy.

Tags General

News & Events

Bingham: I hope my old foe Allen wins world title

Post author By James Colasanti
Post date April 20, 2016

STUART BINGHAM says he would like to see his old foe Mark Allen go on to win the world title this year after five former champions were knocked out in the opening round.

The reigning world champion, still bitterly disappointed after his opening day defeat to Ali Carter on Saturday, still feels Ronnie O’Sullivan is the man to beat despite looking “a bit vulnerable” in his first-round win over David Gilbert.

But Ball Run, who called Allen (pictured) “an idiot” in 2011 after his rival accused him of having “no bottle”, now wants The Pistol to shoot himself to Crucible glory after he eased through with a 10-3 win against Mitchell Mann on Wednesday.

Bingham said: “I would like to see Mark Allen win it. I know we have had our differences in the past but that is all over now and we are friends, and I really think it could be his time.

Tags World Championship

News & Events

Bingham: Key to my world title defence will be enjoying it

Post author By James Colasanti
Post date April 15, 2016

STUART BINGHAM says the key to making a strong defence of his world title will be simply be enjoying the occasion.

Ball Run gets the World Championships underway against Ali Carter at 10am on Saturday morning (April 16) and admits he cannot wait to try and break the infamous ‘Curse of the Crucible’.

No first time champion has ever defended the title at the Sheffield venue but Bingham, 39, who beat Shaun Murphy in the final 12 months ago to shock the snooker world, thinks he knows the recipe for success again.

He said: “I think the key for me will just be to enjoy it. Everyone will be twitching, missing balls and feeling the pressure because of what is at stake.

“But if I can enjoy it as much as I did last year then I think I have got a good chance.

“I look back at some of the pressure balls I was potting, like at the quarter-final stage last year, and I remember that what was so important was just enjoying the occasion, playing the shots as they came along and just letting my snooker do the talking.”

Tags World Championship

News & Events

Bingham happy to sharpen up for Sheffield with unanswered points record in China

Post author By James Colasanti
Post date April 7, 2016

STUART BINGHAM was happy to sharpen up for his world title defence with a ranking event unanswered points record at the China Open.

Ball Run scored 547 without reply in his round one 5-3 win over Sam Baird to break the previous best of 494 by John Higgins, which came against Ronnie O’Sullivan.

And despite a 5-1 quarter-final defeat to Ricky Walden, the world No 2 returned from Beijing feeling he had taken what he needed from the event.

Bingham, who also hit the tournament’s highest break with 143, said: “Ricky got a bye in an earlier round and I think he might have been a bit fresher than me by the time we played. I also felt like the table beat me a bit because it played very differently that day.

“And I have had my battles with Ricky over the years – I tend to win one then he wins one, so I guess it was just his turn!

Tags China Open