STUART BINGHAM’S WORLD snooker championship fairytale all started from determination to prove that he was not “a bottler.”
The 38-year-old beat Shaun Murphy in a Crucible classic on Monday night to become the oldest first-time champion since 1947 and the third oldest winner in the tournament’s history.
It completed a remarkable renaissance for a man who had never even won a ranking title before the 2011 Australian Open.
His quarter-final opponent Mark Allen reignited a rivalry by claiming that Bingham lacked the bottle to close out his wins, but the Englishman proved Allen wrong by knocking him out and going on to win the tournament.
“Thanks to Mark Allen,” Bingham said as he collected the winners’ cheque for £300,000.
He said I had no bottle and since then things have changed.”
Allen graciously tweeted his congratulations to Bingham on Sunday night, praising him for “a great performance under the most intense pressure.”
And he admitted: “I said [Bingham] had no bottle 4 years ago!! I was wrong!! So what?!”
While Bingham was no doubt delighted to prove his point, he certainly wasn’t going to gloat.
“Thanks for the message mate,” he wrote to Allen.
“It was all meant in good jest Mark I assure you. Didn’t mean the way it’s came across.”
