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Bingham looking forward to Indian Open return

Post author By James Colasanti
Post date July 4, 2016

STUART BINGHAM is looking forward to his return to the Indian Open after a three-year absence from the event.

Ball Run last played in the tournament in New Delhi in 2013 when he lost 4-3 in the last 16 to Pankaj Advani and did not enter the following season after the dates of the event in Mumbai were changed from October to March due to local elections.

It was not staged in the last campaign but it is back this month (July 5-9) in Hyderabad and Bingham gets underway against Lincolnshire rookie Steven Hallworth, 20, in round one on Tuesday.

Bingham said: “It will be good to compete in the event again and I am looking forward to the trip and the warm welcome we get in India.

Tags Indian Open

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Bingham rues bad luck in Riga

Post author By James Colasanti
Post date June 27, 2016

STUART BINGHAM was left cursing some dreadful luck which saw his exit from the Riga Masters with defeat to eventual finalist Michael Holt.

Ball Run was 3-2 up in the first-to-four clash and in control of the frame he needed for victory when his promising crack at the first tournament of the season was ended at the last 16 stage.

He said: “How I lost from there is a joke – I felt it was a million to one shot he would beat me from there.

“I was 36 up after laying a snooker and just had to roll one in to stay on the black. There had been some kicks in the tournament but this one jumped on me and he pinched the frame to make it 3-3.

“Then he broke off in the next frame and left me shot to nothing and I got a really bad kick and he made 69 to win. I was left scratching my head to be honest.

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Bingham: Selt’s ban is “harsh” and trolling needs to be tackled

Post author By James Colasanti
Post date June 9, 2016

STUART BINGHAM says Matt Selt’s two-tournament ban for ‘offensive’ tweets is “harsh” and is concerned about the growing problem of internet trolling.

Selt (pictured), 31, felt the governing body’s decision to exclude him from this month’s Riga Masters and August’s Paul Hunter Classic is “draconian” after he was punished for a Twitter exchange with a member of the public.

And he received some sympathy from Bingham, who has been repeatedly subjected to online abuse on social media for many years now.

Bingham said: “I do not know the specifics of Matt’s case but I do know it does not help when you get abused by online trolls.

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Birthday boy Bingham looking for solid start in Preston

Post author By James Colasanti
Post date May 25, 2016

STUART BINGHAM is determined to start his season right over a week of qualifying tournaments at Preston Guild Hall which will define his summer.

Ball Run will start the new campaign at the Indian Open Qualifiers (May 28-30), the World Open Qualifiers (May 31 to June 2) and Riga Masters Qualifiers (June 3-4).

Bingham warmed up this week by practicing with world No 77 Martin O’Donnell and 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy and says his game is in a good place after the short off-season break.

He said: “I was practicing on my own but felt I needed to play some other players and see how that went.

“I played Martin the other day and I came out on top, so that was a good sign because he is a good player.

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Bingham blasts “joke” plans for the Shoot-Out

Post author By James Colasanti
Post date May 11, 2016

STUART BINGHAM has warned the “joke” decision to make the Shoot-Out a ranking event could cost a top player a place at the Crucible.

World Snooker announced today (May 11) that money earned at the shot-clock timed, one frame knock-out tournament will count towards the sport’s money ranking list when it is next staged in February 2017.

The competition will be opened up to all 128 of the Tour’s players and not just the top 64 seeds, as has been the case since it started in 2011.

And world No 2 Bingham is one of a number of critics of the decision, saying it could see snooker’s biggest stars failing to qualifying for the biggest tournaments because they dropped prize money at a tournament which is supposed to be “a bit of fun”.

The 2015 world champion, who made the Shoot-Out final in 2014 (pictured above) but has gone out in the early rounds in the past two years, said: “I think it is an absolute joke. My last two defeats in that tournament came after my opponents fluked reds then made 30s. How can you have ranking money riding on a set-up like that?

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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Bingham hopes China trip can set up more Crucible glory

Post author By James Colasanti
Post date March 21, 2016

STUART BINGHAM is hoping his China Open campaign can set him up nicely for the defence of his world crown at the Crucible next month.

After missing out on a place at the Ladbrokes Players Championship in Manchester this week, Ball Run has decided to fly out to Beijing early to prepare for the penultimate ranking event of the season.

A last-32 defeat to Michael White at the China Open in April 2015 was far from what Bingham wanted – but a month later he won snooker’s greatest prize in Sheffield and admits he’d settle for a similar result again this year.

He said: “I’ve just done an interview with the guy doing the programme for the Crucible so I’m really starting to look forward to getting back there now.

Tags China Open