Stuart Bingham stuns Ronnie O'Sullivan to set up Jak Jones showdown in World Snooker Championship semi-finals
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Updated 01/05/2024 at 21:53 GMT
Qualifier Stuart Bingham reeled off three frames in a row to sensationally knock Ronnie O'Sullivan out of this year's World Snooker Championship. The pair had been inseparable for much of their quarter-final tie, but once it reached 10-10, the 2015 winner put his foot down and claimed a famous victory. He will now face Jak Jones in the last-four, while Kyren Wilson beat John Higgins 13-8.
Watch: O'Sullivan shows class by refusing red after black-spot confusion at the Crucible
Stuart Bingham pulled off a huge upset as Ronnie O'Sullivan crashed out of the World Snooker Championship in the quarter-final stage.
The 2015 world champion, playing in only his second quarter-final for two years, reeled off three frames in a row to register a 13-10 victory and set-up a last-four meeting with fellow qualifier Jak Jones, who earlier beat Judd Trump.
The pair had been locked at 8-8 heading into the session, and it looked like a decider might be required to split them as they shared the opening four frames.
But Bingham suddenly hit a hot streak at the most opportune of moments, while his opponent's confidence seemed to crumble.
O'Sullivan was magnanimous in defeat, telling Eurosport: "I’ve enjoyed the tournament. For me it’s been a great tournament. I’ve actually started getting through the ball, which is more important than anything really.
"Tournaments, victories, losses are irrelevant really, you just want to be enjoying the game, so for me there’s been a lot of progress.
"I lost a snooker match tonight, Stuart deserved the victory, he played really well. I tried to fight and I hung in there for as long as I could but it just wasn’t meant to be."
Defeat also means O'Sullivan will be replaced at the top of the world rankings by Mark Allen.
The evening session had far more fluency compared to the afternoon, with both players looking much more comfortable, and potting much more accurately.
O'Sullivan opened up with a quite magnificent 136, but Bingham was in no mood to let him get away, responding with a 63 to make it 9-9.
He then went in front of the first time since the start of the second session, with a sublime opening red paving the way for a frame-winning 67, having come to the table 39 points behind.
"I can't even remember the last time I saw Stuart play snooker of this calibre, of this quality, with this composure and with his much at stake," said Eurosport commentator Dominic Dale, as he waxed-lyrical over the way Bingham hit the front in frame 20.
He eventually broke down on 35, and a missed red a few shots later paved the way for O'Sullivan to bounce back to the table and deliver a near faultless 62, until missing the yellow into the right middle.
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‘Ball-run strikes again’ – Bingham flukes a red and gives thumbs up to ‘snooker gods’
He still got over the line though, with a long brown and even better blue making it 10-10 at the mid-session interval.
After the break, both players were left irritated after missing straightforward pots, Bingham on the black and O'Sullivan with a red, after which he thumped the table in frustration.
A further miss from 'Ball Run' opened the door for The Rocket again, but his concentration was broken by disturbances in the crowd, some of whom were returning from the mid-session interval on the other table, as O'Sullivan had another disagreement with referee Desislava Bozhilova.
Although O'Sullivan sunk the long red, an error with the rest later on in the frame gave Bingham the chance to come back to the table and clean up.
Although O'Sullivan sunk the long red, an error with the rest later on in the frame gave Bingham the chance to come back to the table and clean up.
Another surprising miss by O'Sullivan saw a visit at the start of the 22nd frame meet an untimely end.
By now, his opponent was looking every inch the player who won the 2015 world title, and not the one who had failed to reach a single ranking event semi-final since December 2021.
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‘Tremendous quality’ – O’Sullivan begins crucial final session with 207th Crucible century
He converted a shot-perfect clearance of 104, his third century of the match, to move to within one sight of the finish line.
O'Sullivan's confidence had seeped away by now, evidenced as he hung his head after attempting a red to the right middle.
It looked his final shot of the tournament would be a safety shot where he left the cue ball short of the baulk cushion, while a red came up the table into a pottable position.
Bingham duly sunk that, but a few minutes later he missed a straightforward pink.
The Rocket bounced back to the table, with Dale describing it as "a lifeline, right at the very death" and his opponent sat in his chair shaking his head.
O'Sullivan looked set to clean up when he delivered a sensational 48, but he missed the yellow, and this time it was curtains.
A relieved Bingham only needed up to the blue, and he coolly closed it out for a famous victory.
Wilson and Gilbert to meet in semis
In the other quarter-final match that was being played to a conclusion, Kyren Wilson raced to the finish line as he beat four-time winner John Higgins 13-8.
Resuming with a 9-7 lead, the 2020 runner-up needed four further frames to book a last-four clash with Dave Gilbert.
The evening session started off in a scrappy manner, and it was the Scot who took the opener, although without making any significant contribution.
Wilson responded quickly though, taking the next three, including a visit of 101 as he headed to the mid-session interval with a 12-8 advantage.
And he duly wrapped up the match after the hiatus, with Higgins unluckily going in-off to hand his opponent a chance, and the 32-year-old clinching it on the pink.
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‘Sweet revenge for The Warrior’ – Wilson downs Higgins to book semi-final spot
Earlier in the day, Gilbert eventually saw off the challenge of Stephen Maguire to reach the semi-finals for the second time in his career.
Gilbert led 8-1 but was pegged back by the Scotsman, who won seven of the next 10 frames to threaten a remarkable comeback.
But the Englishman wouldn't be denied, holding his nerve to complete a 13-8 win and set up a meeting with Wilson.
How the afternoon session played out
O’Sullivan was far from convincing from the start of the session as he missed a black off its spot.
Bingham made the most of the chance with a break of 108 to move into the lead.
The Rocket soon responded, levelling at 5-5 despite the fact he was still failing to find his best form, missing a yellow at 26-0 ahead and then a red at 56-8.
The next frame saw further missed opportunities as Bingham could not close out from 60-0 up, and again when presented with frame ball, after O’Sullivan left a red over the pocket.
As such, the world No. 1 came back to the table and cleared up to win the frame, giving him a 6-5 lead.
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Watch: O'Sullivan shows class by refusing red after black-spot confusion at the Crucible
Both players had their chances in the 12th, one that was full of drama when The Rocket was left exasperated at the black rolling off its spot after being potted.
The referee was asked to check it had been correctly replaced on several occasions, with the eventual positioning of the ball meaning O'Sullivan did not attempt to pot the final red.
That brought an untimely end to his break, with Bingham eventually bringing winding up a 47-minute frame as the contest headed to the mid-session interval all square.
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‘The kind of start you dream about’ – Bingham begins second session with century
The hiatus seemed to come at the perfect time for the seven-time champion, who was much more fluent after the re-start, notching up an excellent 79, enough to take the frame despite going in-off when sinking the blue.
He then opened up a two-frame cushion, once more taking advantage of Bingham not cashing in when being first at the table.
But the 2015 world champion hit back, accumulating an excellent 125, meaning he had a chance to level up ahead of the concluding session this evening.
And he did just that, this time compiling a terrific 92 to level at 8-8.
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