Stuart Bingham glided past Mark Williams to take the last spot in the quarter-finals after seeing Kyren Wilson thump Jack Lisowski to a 6-2 win. Bingham is now poised to take on Wilson in the last-eight of the competition.
Bingham fielded his best Arsenal when taking on Mark Williams. He started on the front foot and established a 1-0 lead after punishing his opponent for an error made. Williams though hit back soon after in the second frame to level matters. 23 might not be an impressive break, but it was just enough to make him share the spoils after two frames.
Williams then pots excellently well to hand himself the lead for the first time in the game.
After an extended period at his seat, Stuart took his position by the table once again and took the fourth frame to make it even at 2-2.
The six-time ranking event winner just like in the first capitalized on another error from his opponent. Bingham cues brilliantly after a Williams safety error to hit his highest break of the match with a 76 clearance to the pick and a deserved 3-2 lead.
Rather than move cautiously from this time on, Bingham was prepared to blow away from his opponent. Helped by a break of 86, he increased the lead to two frames after winning the sixth frame to make it 4-2.
The six-time ranking event winner wasn’t done yet. Bingham unrelenting, cleared the pink to make it 5-2 and one frame away from the win.
The two-time Masters champion may have struggled to get a good foothold earlier in the game, dragging neck to neck with Williams. However, he has shown himself to be worthy of a last-eight place, taking four frames on the bounce to make it 6-2.
What better way to announce yourself as coming for the world number 8, Kyren Wilson.
He might have been the last to secure a place in the quarters. However, this is only down to the lineup of the matches rather than his unworthiness to play at that stage.
The two-time winner is well aware of what it takes to play at the top level and would surely give Wilson a good run for his money.
Written by: Roland Arum