Brilliant Bingham breezes through to Judgement Day at World Championship qualifiers
Bingham prevailed on Thursday (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)
Stuart Bingham breezed through to the World Championship final qualifying round following a commanding 6-1 victory over Chen Zifan on Monday.
The 2015 World champion is appearing in the qualifying stages for the first time since 2011, having recently dropped out of the top 16.
Nevertheless, Ballrun made light work of China’s Chen at the English Institute of Sport, hitting breaks of 61, 56, 120 and 58 on the way to setting up a mouth-watering showdown with Luca Brecel for a place at the Crucible on Judgement Day.
Former China Championship winner Brecel reeled off five consecutive frames from 3-1 down to overcome Mark King 6-3.
Two-time Crucible finalist Ali Carter beat Pang Junxu 6-4 to set up a clash with Alexander Ursenbacher, who prevailed 6-5 against Martin O’Donnell despite being forced into a decider from 5-1 up.
Chinese teenager Bai Langning, who saw off Alan McManus in the previous round, recovered from 4-1 down before making a break of 96 in the deciding frame to see off Ben Woollaston.
Meanwhile, Lincoln’s Steven Hallworth overturned a 3-0 deficit against Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown, with a timely 103 in the decider meaning he will face world number 22 Gary Wilson, who overcame Gerard Greene 6-4.
However, there was no joy for two-time Crucible runner-up Matthew Stevens, who was beaten 6-3 by Chris Wakelin. The world number 63 will play Xiao Guodong after the two-time ranking event finalist eased past Ian Burns 6-1.
Elsewhere, Sam Craigie set up a clash with Zhao Xintong after whitewashing Hossein Vafaei 6-0, while former German Masters champion Martin Gould was a 6-4 winner against Duane Jones.
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World Snooker Championship Qualifiers 2021 Results
Monday April 12
Third Round
Ben Woollaston 5-6 Bai Langning
Martin Gould 6-4 Duane Jones
Jordan Brown 5-6 Steven Hallworth
Luca Brecel 6-3 Mark King
Ali Carter 6-4 Pang Junxu
Martin O’Donnell 5-6 Alexander Ursenbacher
Zhao Xintong 6-3 Kacper Filipiak
Hossein Vafaei 0-6 Sam Craigie
Gary Wilson 6-4 Gerard Greene
Matthew Stevens 3-6 Chris Wakelin
Xiao Guodong 6-1 Ian Burns
Stuart Bingham 6-1 Chen Zifan
