FEELING like a goldfish was the only way Stuart Bingham could describe his German Masters opener, but the world No.2 is adamant his focus must improve if he is to reach the tournament’s later stages.

The Basildon cueman raced into a 4-0 lead against Zhang Yong on Thursday, but found himself quickly on the wrong end of momentum after the interval as the game was clawed back to 4-3.

But a superb break of 129 quashed fears of the worst happening for Bingham, with a 5-3 victory taking him one win away from his best performance in Berlin.

But the 2015 world champion insists he has no choice but to up his game come Friday’s second round - where either Marco Fu or David Gilbert stands in his way - and Bingham is hopeful the scare can be a kick in the right direction.

“I felt like a bit of a goldfish, one minute I was in and then I was all over the place, focus-wise,” he said.

“I took my eye off the ball and let him get back into it, but thankfully I’ve made a big break at the end to scrape through.

“I lost my focus and I was getting worried about booking a flight home. I was thinking the worst and he managed to fluke a red, so everything looked to be going wrong.

“I was too busy watching the other matches, they’re all close and you can’t help but look over, so it was a big loss of focus.”

Despite the fright, Bingham started in good touch in Berlin’s Tempodrom, on for a 147 in the very first frame before missing a simple red while concentrating on his next position.

Yet from there the match seemed to be heading in one direction, with a break of 71 seeing him to the interval in faultless fashion.

But Zhang roared his way back, making the most of missed opportunities to reel off three successive frames before Bingham's ton, and was left to concede good fortune throughout the match.

“I was lucky to be 4-0 up at the break, Zhang should have had one or two so I was delighted come the interval,” he added.

“But the crowd were fantastic, they always are in Germany, so hopefully I can stay until the weekend and really get the most of that.

“I’ve never reached the quarter-finals so that’s my first aim, and I know I’m potting and cueing well enough to do that.”

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