Stuart Bingham sealed a spot in March’s Winners’ Group after a 3-0 final victory over Gary Wilson at the 2024 BetVictor Championship League Invitational at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, live on Matchroom.Live in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the United States, Viaplay in Scandinavia and theBaltics as well as other broadcasters worldwide.
Bingham came into Wednesday in desperate need of points to reach the play-offs, having only managed one win in Tuesday’s opening sessions. Victories over Robert Milkins, Chris Wakelin and Noppon Saengkham boosted him to third place in the group, and he went on to beat Kyren Wilson 3-0 in the semi-finals.
After taking the opening frame against Gary Wilson in the final, former World Champion Bingham made excellent clearances of 61 and 62 in the next two frames to wrap up a 3-0 success.
“I didn’t practise loads over Christmas, but enough that I felt I was coming here with a bit of form. I’ve won every game today so I’m over the moon,” said Basildon’s Bingham.
“I felt really good in the balls and I’m feeling really calm at one pace around the table. A couple times I missed the ball today when I tried to quicken up and get on with it, and then missed it! Trying to stay calm did the trick today!”
Bingham’s victory sealed the first spot in Winners’ Group, which will see each winner from Groups 1-7 return on March 1st-2nd.
Gary Wilson, Kyren Wilson, Ryan Day and Chris Wakelin will join Mark Selby, Ali Carter and Matthew Selt back here at the Morningside Arena tomorrow as Group 2’s action begins.
The famous Tempodrom in the heart of Berlin once again hosts the BetVictor German Masters in 2024, and the draw and format have now been confirmed, following the completion of the qualifying round.
The tournament will run from January 29 to February 4 …
There’s a new format this season, as matches involving the top eight seeds have been held over to the final stages in Berlin. They are:
Defending champion Ali Carter v Michael White – Monday January 29th, 3pm Shaun Murphy v Xu Si – Monday January 29th, 3pm Mark Allen v Manasawin Phetmalaikul – Monday January 29th, 8pm Judd Trump v Germany’s top player Lukas Kleckers – Monday January 29th, 8pm Ronnie O’Sullivan v Julien Leclercq – Monday January 29th, 3pm Mark Selby v Marco Fu – Monday January 29th, 3pm Neil Robertson v Sanderson Lam – Monday January 29th, 8pm Luca Brecel v Ishpreet Singh Chadha – Monday January 29th, 8pm
Home favourite Kleckers will play at the Tempodrom for the first time
Other star names in the field include Mark Williams, John Higgins, Kyren Wilson and Barry Hawkins.
Fergal O’Brian has confirmed that this season will be his last as a pro
Over the Christmas break, Fergal was interviewed by RTE and confirmed that this season will be his last as a professional (source twitter). I have met Fergal on many occasions, on tour and at exhibition tournaments organised by Jason Francis. He’s a lovely man, a family man, and a lot of fun to be around off the table. He’s also a very, very good player … although his style is not my favourite 😉. In recent years, he’s been going more and more commentary work and he’s excellent at it. I’m wishing Fergal the very best for the future and I do hope that we will still see him with a cue in his hand in the World Seniors Tour.
Ryan Watterson is the new WPBSA Media Officer
The news was shared on social media
Ryan is the grand-son of Mike Watterson, the man who “discovered” the Crucible … actually his wife did. The whole family is deeply into snooker.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 