IT was more late heartache for Stuart Bingham as he lost a 5-3 lead to lose 6-5 to world number one Mark Selby in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.

Bingham, 40, had reached the semi-final and final in the past two years and was looking to make another showpiece occasion in China.

Having seen off the challenge of Ali Carter in the quarter-final he took to the floor to do battle with Selby and made a slow start.

The Bowers Gifford potter was 3-1 down at the interval, with breaks of 76 and 65 putting the man from Leicester into a commanding position.

But Bingham played superbly after the break, winning the next four frames with clearances of 67, 123, 72 and 87 to move into a 5-3 lead and within a frame of the final.

But Selby scrapped back to 5-5, after Bingham missed several chances to take the match in the ninth frame. And he eased to the win in the deciding frame to leaving Bingham rueing his luck, having missed out in the final of the 6-Red World Championship on the final ball earlier this month.

“I’m absolutely gutted,” said Bingham. “I had a couple of chances to win 6-3. It will take a few months to get over this defeat. I felt like the stronger player when I went 5-3 up, then Mark showed grit and determination as he always does.

“At 5-3 I had a blue into the green pocket and someone in the crowd coughed and I missed it. For the rest of that frame my concentration wasn’t there.”