Stuart Bingham is set to face Neil Robertson in the World Grand Prix final in Hong Kong – and following his victory over world No.1 Judd Trump in the semi-finals was feeling the emotion. Bingham defeated Trump, who has relocated from the UK to Hong Kong permanently, 6-3, securing his first ranking final in six years in the process.
This came after Robertson made a comeback from 5-3 down to beat Shaun Murphy 6-5. “I’m over the moon,” expressed an elated Bingham, who managed to maintain a 5-1 lead and fend off a comeback from Trump. “I had a little tear there at the table, because it has been a long time. It has been hard. Without a doubt, I’ve wondered if I ever would get back in a ranking final. The last few years haven’t been good on my part.
“I’ve been searching and trying things. This week it has clicked for me. I’ve got through matches without feeling the best, but now I’m in the final.”
In his own semi-final, Robertson took a 2-0 lead over Murphy with breaks of 114 and 104. However, the Masters champion won five of the next six frames with breaks of 52, 77, 64, 107 and 77.
Despite this, Murphy failed to score in the last three frames, allowing Robertson to secure victory with his third century of the contest. “Full compliments to Shaun, he said after the match that there wasn’t anything he could do about that long red I potted in the last frame,” Robertson commented.
“It was an unbelievable shot to create the match-winning visit.”
