Stuart Bingham could only watch on in despair as the snooker star faced a potential humilation of a whitewash against Neil Robertson in the World Grand Prix final on Sunday. The former world champion was left staring down the barrel of a humbling defeat after trailing 8-0 to Robertson before the interval at the Kai Tak Arena in Hong Kong. Bingham had pulled off a shock when he knocked Judd Trump out in the semi-finals, prevailing 6-3 against the reigning world No. 1.
But the Basildon native may have run out of juice at the same time as Robertson found his rhythm in the Far East. With a £180,000 prize awaiting the winner, the Australian registered breaks of 87, 104, 71, 59, 72 and 78 in the final to show his class and Bingham could only watch on in awe as he cleared the table with remarkable ease. One specific moment summed up Robertson’s high quality with the cue when he was trailing 44-18 in the fifth frame.
He lined up an audacious pot on the red, which was sitting in the middle of the bottom cushion, and the 43-year-old perfectly executed a double off the baize as the ball sailed towards the top-left pocket.
The shot earned a huge ovation from spectators, who were left impressed by his incredible play. While some may have interpreted it as a fluke, there appeared to be some measured deliberation in his execution.
Bingham’s best break of the match arrived in the sixth frame when he put together a score of 56, before he ran the white back to the baulk. That proved to be a costly error and Robertson seized upon his chance to take a 6-0 lead. It was the closest Bingham came to breaking his opponent’s streak of consecutive frames.
The six-time title winner hadn’t made the final of any tournament since the Gibraltar Open in 2019 where he beat Ryan Day. Prior to that, he had lost to Robertson once before in the Welsh Open showdown in the same year.
He struggled to lay a proverbial glove on Robertson, who was equally impressive in dismantling Shaun Murphy with a 6-3 scoreline in the semi-finals.
He needs only two more frames to clinch the trophy and lucrative prize in the best-of-19 contest, leaving Bingham with a huge job on his hands just to avoid being dealt a crushing defeat when they return to the table.
