World Snooker Championship: Stuart Bingham recovers from horror miss to down Gary Wilson, Shaun Murphy progresses

ByEurosport

Updated 22/04/2024 at 21:28 GMT

Stuart Bingham survived a wobble to beat Gary Wilson. Bingham raced into a 4-0 lead against a disbelieving Wilson, who jokingly offered his cue to a member of the audience after missing a routine pot, but was forced to rediscover his composure after seeing his opponent snatch the final frame of the first session. Wilson briefly threatened a comeback until misses started to haunt him again.

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Stuart Bingham finally banished memories of a horror miss as he turned on the afterburners to see off Gary Wilson 10-5 in the World Championship first round.

Qualifier Bingham was one pot away from taking a 7-2 lead into Monday night's decisive session, but he inexplicably missed the final black as Wilson returned to accept the unlikeliest of gifts.

And 6-3 soon became 6-5 as breaks of 86 and 58 saw Wilson roar back into contention – the 11th frame featuring a brilliant clearance as Bingham floundered.

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'Snooker gods for you having their fun' - Bingham pots red and goes in-off

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It appeared the 2015 world champion was on the brink when he over-cut a yellow in the 12th, only for Wilson's erratic form from the first session to return as he shoved a straight pink into the jaws of the bottom-right pocket.

It seemed to jolt Bingham back to life as he belatedly got on the board in the session, although he needed more help from his opponent in the next frame when Wilson failed to hit the blue with enough pace and left it hanging over the pocket.

Wilson gave a sarcastic thumbs up to the table before sinking into his chair and from that moment on, he looked a beaten man.

Breaks of 66 and 55 moved Bingham to the cusp of victory, which he sealed at the first time of asking after Wilson briefly returned to the table needing snookers.

Bingham will face Ding Junhui or Jack Lisowski in the second round.

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Morning session: Bingham leads Wilson after gripping start

Bingham took a 6-3 lead over Wilson in a gripping morning session.

It was a session marred by a series of errors from Wilson, but the way in which he dramatically clinched the ninth frame before the interval boosted his hopes of turning the tide in his favour.

Bingham was able to claim the opener after Wilson's black to the bottom corner rattled the jaws of the pocket and allowed him to take the first frame with an impressive clearance of 98.

The former world champion doubled his advantage in a pulsating end to a second frame which managed to somehow almost get away from him. After failing to pot a brown to the green pocket, Bingham levelled the scores and forced a dramatic play-off on the black.

Bingham managed to land the black with a superb shot, much to the bemusement of Wilson in an intriguing start to the match.

More chances came and went for Wilson in frame three, and he was forced to eventually concede following some fine potting by Bingham.

It looked like Wilson had finally gathered some frame-winning momentum, but an unwanted cannon ended his break on 38 and a cagey frame ensued.

After falling into a trap on the red and then losing another six points with a foul and a miss, Bingham made a break of 53 to leave Wilson needing snookers.

They did not materialise, as the Tyneside Terror was forced to concede and go 4-0 down in a sobering start to the match.

Wilson finally got off the mark with a break of 36, which came to an end after a missed red to the top pocket.

Wilson offers cue to fan after missing routine red

The response from Bingham was emphatic, as he rattled in a superb 117 to clear up to the pink for his 580th career century and take a 5-1 lead.

In a moment that summed up Wilson's struggles in the session, he missed a routine red to the bottom corner and comically offered his cue to a member of the crowd.

Bingham drew an unexpected foul after a chipped shot with the cue ball went awry, but Wilson could not make it pay with another missed red to the top pocket.

Although with Bingham missing a red too, Wilson was back in and landed a pressured pot himself to open up the pack nicely on his way to his highest break of the match up to this point at 42.

Wilson was struggling to gain any sort of momentum in a chastening first session, and after a safety error, he left the door open again for Bingham to extend his lead with another fine break of 76.

Wilson had to wait until the ninth frame to take his first half-century break of the match, but his error-strewn play came to the surface once again after missing a black to the bottom pocket to end his run at 60.

The prospect of securing a morale-boosting frame before the end of the session looked to have come and gone as Bingham motored to a clearance of 63, only to agonisingly miss the final black to allow Wilson to pot it and dramatically reduce the deficit at 6-3.

Meanwhile, Shaun Murphy booked his place in the second round after a 10-5 victory over Lyu Haotian.

With the score at 6-3 heading into the this morning, the magician secured four of the next six frames to set up a clash with Stephen Maguire.

Lyu actually managed to score with the highest break of the match at 117 in the 14th frame, but it was not enough to prevent the Chinese player from exiting the tournament.

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