MILLIONS of sports fans across the country tuned into watch the World Championship snooker final... but nowhere was there a more avid viewer than in Vange.

And that’s because it was there that Stuart Bingham awaited a result which would determine if he would keep his top 16 world ranking heading into the new season.

So the 35-year-old Australian Goldfields Open champion was a mightily relieved man to see Chigwell’s Ronnie O’Sullivan claim an 18-11 win over Colchester-born Ali Carter.

Bingham said: “I watched it at home and I was quite confident Ronnie would win, but Ali had the bit between his teeth so you just never know.

“And a win for Ali would have made a big difference to me.

“For a start I’ve already booked my flights to the first three or four ranking events next year because I qualify for them automatically as a top 16 player. But if Ali had won I would have to have qualified.

“And it would also have cost me about £20,000 in things like prize money and would also have affected things like sponsorship because I would not have been a top 16 player.

“Luckily for me Ronnie always looked in control and I was very grateful for that!”

Bingham and Carter fell out a couple of years ago following a clash at the Welsh Open.

But Bingham says they’ve since resolved their differences and now talk about both recently becoming new fathers. He said: “He played some great stuff at the Crucible and it was good to see him back to his best.”

Carter, who has considered retirement in recent months, will start next season ranked 17th in the world.

He said: “I’m playing half-decent snooker again and my health is better, so I’m going to keep playing for a while.

“I’m just disappointed with the way I played in the final.”