Bingham books Bendigo final

Stuart Bingham reached his first ranking tournament final and hailed the achievement as the finest of his career.

Bingham, 35, defeated Shaun Murphy 6-2 in the semi-finals of the Australian Goldfields Open at the Bendigo Stadium, in Victoria, yesterday and will now play Mark Williams who beat Ken Doherty 6-2 in the other semi-final.

After a 16-year career as a professional, Bingham has experienced the highs and lows of snooker, but believes this moment has made all the effort worthwhile.

“All the hard work and dedication has finally paid off,” said an emotional Bingham.

“This has to be the best achievement for me. It’s something I’ve wanted to do all of my life and I just hope I play well in the final.

“I beat Stephen Hendry in the World Championships (in 2000) and thought I had made it but a few things happened off the table that I wasn’t happy with it.

“At one stage I nearly dropped off the tour and lost ten matches on the trot. I was about 76th in the rankings when there were only 90 players.”