Stuart Bingham explains post-match interview and gesture after Masters win over Shaun Murphy - 'It was a joke'
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Published 14/01/2023 at 12:06 GMT
Friday night saw Stuart Bingham blow away Shaun Murphy in the 2023 Masters as he battled to an impressive 6-0 win in the quarter-finals. After the win, he said in an interview that Murphy had been "lucky to get nil" because of the form he was in. On Saturday he explained on Twitter that he had meant no disrespect to his opponent and had said similar things about himself in the past.
'Back with a bang' - Bingham hits 65 break to seal Murphy whitewash
Stuart Bingham has explained his comments and gestures following his Masters quarter-final win over Shaun Murphy on Friday.
Bingham was a dominant winner in the tie, securing a whitewash 6-0 victory against his opponent, but two events caused controversy after the game.
In a post-match interview, Bingham reflected on the margin of victory, and said that his opponent had been lucky to get nil, which some suggested was a disrespectful comment.
He also appeared to make a gun gesture with his fingers after the win, and Bingham took to Twitter to explain both incidents.
He began: “Morning everyone, semi-finals day at the Masters and I’m still in it. Unbelievable, but I’ve just one on Twitter and I’m getting a load of abuse for what I said in my match interview with Rob Walker, obviously against Shaun, saying he was lucky to get nil. And I’m being called arrogant, cocky, disrespectful.
“People that know me know that I’m not like that. It was a joke, people have played like that against me, and I’ve said in an interview that I was lucky to get nil, that’s all it was.
“So just thought I’d clear that up."
He then put his finger gesture into context, adding: “People are also saying ‘what’s this?’ [He raises his hand with two fingers outstretched, with his thumb raised].
“My boy is in the crowd, I normally do that [a thumbs up] to him, but he’s fractured his two fingers, so I’ve just put that and that together, and that’s all that is.
“All the best, hope you enjoy the semi-finals, and good luck.”
Bingham faces Judd Trump in the second semi-final on Saturday night, with Jack Lisowski and Mark Williams playing their tie earlier in the day.
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