STUART Bingham says he is hungrier than ever to succeed next season after his reign as current Snooker World Champion came to an end this week.

The Vange man watched Mark Selby beat Ding Junhui 18-14 to lift the World Championship trophy at the Crucible Theatre on Monday, 12 months after he had won the tournament for the first time in his career.

Bingham beat Shaun Murphy 18-15 last year in one of the most memorable finals of recent times but fell at the first hurdle this time around, as he was beaten by fellow Essex man Ali Carter.

The World number two failed to hit the heights of last season, in which he won four tournaments and reached three semi-finals, with a final appearance at the World Grand Prix his best performance this year.

But the 39-year-old, who would have become world number one had Ding won the title, says he is more motivated than ever to rediscover his best form when he returns for the 2016/17 season.

“I watched the final and it definitely wasn’t as good as last year,” he laughed. “I went up to Sheffield to watch it and I am glad Ding made a good fight of it in the end.

“Mark played well but I don’t know if we saw his A-game for the entire tournament but he still won and that is why he is world champion and world number one.

“It was hard watching knowing I was out there a year ago and I felt a bit flat. I was back stage as the final was going on and I saw Selby walking back out to the arena and thought how much I would love for that to be me again.

“I was rooting for Ding as a win would have made me world number one but it wasn’t to be. I needed more ranking points this season really. I got about 500,000 last year and only about 150,000 this season so I need to address that next year.

“I got home on Tuesday and said to my wife ‘It’s all over now’ and that wasn't easy to say. I want it all again and will be doing everything I can to have a successful year next time around.

“I would need to win a couple of tournaments early on next season and really push on if I wanted to be the world number one but I will do my best as always and hope that gets me somewhere.”

Bingham admits the pressures of being world champion may explain why his form dipped this year and says the added responsibilities played their part.

But he is now gearing up towards next season, after what he said was a memorable 12 months.

“Being the world champion brings different pressures to what I had to deal with before," he said. "The media commitments are more intense as people want to talk to you before every event, and that does drag your focus away from your game at times.

“But it is something we are faced with and I understand that, now more than ever.

“Being introduced as world champion has been incredible. I have not had a great season but I did OK at the Shangai Masters, UK Masters and World Grand Prix and I need to build on everything for next year.

“I have had a few weeks off but I will be back at the table next week as we have some qualification events at the Preston Guildhall coming up and I want to be in a good place heading into that.”