NEW Shanghai Masters champion Stuart Bingham says he is ‘over the moon’ to win his second ranking event, but insists there is more to come.

The Vange professional defeated Mark Allen 10-3 in the showpiece on Sunday to claim the title, his first major victory since the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open.

But the new number 10 ranked snooker star said the achievement was the best of his career.

“I am over the moon to win,” said the 38-year-old. “It means I am able to put myself alongside some other names who have won two ranking events (including Allen and Dominic Dale – who he beat on the way to the Shanghai title) and it is a bit of a monkey off my back to be honest.

“This is my greatest achievement in the sport and to win a tournament so early in the season sets me up nicely for the coming months.”

Bingham went into the tourna-ment off the back of the 6 Red World Championship, in which he reached the quarter-finals, and said he knew he was coming into the tournament on good form.

“I played quite well in Thailand so I knew I was doing ok. I got beaten by John Higgins and didn’t play again until Monday – which was two days before I played Li Hang in Shanghai.

“I was 3-1 down in that game and it wasn’t looking too good but then I clicked and played some really good snooker.

“And when I beat Dominic (Dale) I thought this might be my week. He is a former champion in Shanghai but I was hitting some big early breaks – making two centuries in my first three frames.

“I knew if I played like that again I would have every chance of doing well and to beat Alan McManus so comfortably was really promising. He had had some really good results in earlier rounds (beating Ronnie O’Sullivan) but I felt good and 5-1 was an impressive win for me.

“I struggled in the semi-final against Ding (Junhui) – I was 4-2 down at one point but must have only missed one or two balls after that.”

Now back in Vange, after he landed on Tuesday night, he said he watched a replay of his comeback against Ding, as he was suffering with jetlag.

“I couldn’t get any sleep Tuesday night and I was pleased watching how I did,” Bingham added.

“I felt so positive coming into the first break 4-0 up. I wanted to put myself in a really strong position ahead of the second session but Mark is a fighter and got back into the game.

“Winning that frame was huge for me. I was either going into the interval 5-4 up or 6-3 up so to win that was a huge boost. And after that every frame could have gone either way to be honest.”

Bingham was practising with close friend Peter Ward in the interval and came out for the 10th frame firing on all cylinders, winning the next four frames to take the crown.

But there is ‘no rest for the wicked’ as Bingham put it. He will head to Yorkshire next week to take on Michael Wasley in the International Championship qualifier. If he beats Wasley he will qualify for the event in Chengdu, in China in November.

His next competition will be the Players Tour Championship event in Sofia, in Bulgaria next month, but Bingham says he is looking forward to spending some time at home before jetting abroad again.

“When I got in Tegan (step-daughter) was waiting up and I got a big cuddle but Shae (son) was fast asleep. I must say it is nice to be home – even if it is just for a bit,” he said.