DEFENDING World Snooker Champion Stuart Bingham’s title defence faltered at the first hurdle as he was beaten by old foe and fellow Essex man Ali Carter.

Bingham was beaten 10-9 in a thrilling encounter at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, as Carter held his nerve to progress in the tournament.

Bingham came into the competition looking to replicate his remarkable success of 2015, when he lifted the World Championship trophy at the Crucible.

But he was up against an old nemesis in Carter, who had a hugely impressive record over Bingham and he proved to be as stubborn an opponent as expected.

Although it started well for Bingham as he took the first frame before Carter took charge. The Chelmsford player won the next five frames to move into a commanding lead at the mid-session interval and leave Bingham staring down the barrel of an early exit.

But breaks of 96 and 90 brought him to within a frame at 5-4 at the midway point of the match.

Bingham took the first frame of the evening session to level the tie before Carter again pulled clear with three straight frames.

Bingham won the 14th frame to close the gap to 8-6 and he was growing in confidence, taking the next three to lead 9-8 and close to within a frame of victory.

However, Carter scored the highest break of the match with a terrific 102 to take the match into the final 19th frame.

And it was Carter that took it after a number of missed shots from both players to advance into the second round.