Stuart Bingham - through to round two in Sheffield
Stuart Bingham got the better of Judd Trump

Players Championship: Stuart Bingham wins deciding frame to beat Judd Trump


Stuart Bingham produced some top-notch snooker to beat Judd Trump 6-5 in the first round of the Players Championship.

In a quality match which produced three centuries before a tense conclusion, Bingham finally hauled himself over the line after Trump had threatened to perform another Lazarus-like reawakening.

It would have been hard on Bingham had he lost, more so owing to two maximum attempts, in frames six and eight, which saw him break down on 113 and 112 respectively.

In the end though the important business of beating Trump was taken care of, but only after Trump had forced a decider with a nerveless counter-punch in frame 10.

Trump's defeat was his first in the opening round of a ranking event since December 2019, when he lost to Ian Burns at the European Masters.

The world number one rarely looked comfortable in an intriguing battle to kick off the tournament.

Bingham, trying to hang on to his top-16 ranking, stormed into a 2-0 lead only to play the role of spectator as Trump flipped the match on its head, racking up career century number 780 to level it at 2-2 before taking a one-frame lead.

But Bingham hit back to level, on course for a 147 before a missed black on 113, only to miss another opportunity two frames later when the final red went begging.

Bingham led 5-4 after a break of 47 in a tense ninth frame but Trump edged the following frame 64-61 to force a decider.

It was only a temporary reprieve as Bingham prevailed in a tense 11th frame, winning it 69-0 despite leaving Trump a number of openings as the pressure grew.

On the other table, Kyren Wilson rattled off five frames in succession to beat Ryan Day 6-1.

Wilson signed off in fluent form, breaks of 59, 119 and 73 carrying him into the second round.

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