Bingham looks to make Mark for 3rd time (From Echo)

Bingham looks to make Mark for 3rd time

10:07am Monday 5th October 2009 in

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BASILDON professional Stuart Bingham will be aiming for a hat-trick of ranking tournament wins over two times former world champion Mark Williams when he opens his challenge in the sport’s Grand Prix tomorrow lunchtime in Glasgow.

The new towner earned his place in the star-studded 32-strong field at the final qualifier with a 5-2 success over Dave Gilbert.

In the first big event of the new home season, 33-year-old Bingham will hope to at least match his performance in the opening ranking tournament of the season, the Shanghai Masters, where he made the last 16 by beating Mark Selby before losing to Ding Junhui.

A repeat would see Bingham make a further rise from his current provisional ranking based on last season and the current campaign which stands at 29.

That is a move up from the 32nd spot he filled at the beginning of this season after a relatively disappointing 2008/09 term.

Said Bingham: “I’m feeling good, hitting the balls well, and things are going fine in practice.

“The last time we met, in the play-offs for the Premier League, Mark beat me 3-1.

“But I’ve had a couple of wins over him in ranking events before and it would be good to make it a hat-trick.”

Williams won the world crown twice in the early 2000s but suffered a couple of disappointing years that saw him drop out of the sport’s top 16.

But he has been on the comeback trail in recent seasons and started this campaign 15th on the official rankings with Bingham 21st.

In the provisional rankings Welsh cue wizard Williams, 34, stands at 15th as well.

The Bingham v Williams match over nine frames starts at 1.30pm tomorrow and the Essex man, based at the Q Ball Club in Southernhay, travelled up to Scotland yesterday.

The tournament started on Saturday and is getting extensive coverage on BBC Television during the eight days of competition.