Former world and Masters champion Stuart Bingham has catapulted himself into the mix to qualify for the prestigious World Grand Prix next month (January 15-21) by producing his best form of the season at the Scottish Open.
World No. 25 Bingham compiled breaks of 81 and 128 in a 4-2 win over Aaron Hill in the third round on Thursday afternoon before continuing his heavy-scoring streak with 119, 68, 65 and 89 in a 4-0 whitewash of International champion Zhang Anda in the last 16 later in the day.
He has moved to the brink of a spot in the World Grand Prix – involving the top 32 on the one-year list after the Scottish Open – and knows victory over Zhou Yuelong in the quarter-finals on Friday in Edinburgh will guarantee him £17,500 for reaching the semi-finals and a place inside the top 32 ahead of the cut-off point.
Bingham lost 10-9 to Shaun Murphy in the 2016 World Grand Prix final, but has not gone beyond the last 32 of a ranking this season until the Scottish Open.
Wilson made breaks of 87, 88, 80 and 89 in a 4-1 win over Rory Thor knowing a run to the final would guarantee him a place in the World Grand Prix with the winner claiming £80,000 and £35,000 for the runner-up.
Meanwhile, world No. 9 Kyren Wilson and former Crucible semi-finalist Anthony McGill have joined world champion Luca Brecel in missing out on a spot at the World Grand Prix.
Wilson lost the final four frames in a 4-2 defeat to Wakelin in the last 16 on Thursday night, while Sanderson Lam ran out a 4-1 winner over McGill to leave himself one win away from muscling in on the top 32 before his quarter-final meeting with Noppon Saengkham.
Brecel’s shock 4-2 defeat to Martin O’Donnell in the last 32 on Wednesday leaves him outside the top 32 cut-off point.
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Scottish Open quarter-finals (best of nine frames)
- Zhou Yuelong v Stuart Bingham, 12pm
- Gary Wilson v Chris Wakelin, 2pm
- Sanderson Lam v Noppon Saengkham, 7pm
- John Higgins v Tom Ford, 7pm
Latest provisional one-year ranking list
Top 32 qualify for World Grand Prix, players in bold still in Scottish Open
- 1. Judd Trump 406,000
- 2. Ronnie O’Sullivan 306,500
- 3. Zhang Anda 260,500
- 4. Mark Williams 173,000
- 5. Barry Hawkins 159,500
- 6. Ding Junhui 150,000
- 7. Tom Ford 139,500
- 8. Ali Carter 117,000
- 9. Mark Selby 113,500
- 10. Hossein Vafaei 89,000
- 11. Mark Allen 88,500
- 12. John Higgins 82,500
- 13. Lyu Haotian 79,500
- 14. Chris Wakelin 79,000
- 15. Zhou Yuelong 74,500
- 16. Noppon Saengkham 65,000
- 17. Stephen Maguire 60,000
- 18. Jack Lisowski 59,500
- 19. Matthew Selt 58,000
- 20. Shaun Murphy 56,500
- 21. Xiao Guodong 56,500
- 22. David Gilbert 53,000
- 23. Yuan Sijun 50,500
- 24. Wu Yize 50,000
- 25. Jordan Brown 49,500
- 26. Ricky Walden 48,000
- 27. Cao Yupeng 48,000
- 28. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 45,000
- 29. Dominic Dale 44,000
- 30. Pang Junxu 43,500
- 31. Jamie Jones 42,000
- 32. Si Jiahui 41,500
- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
- 36. Stuart Bingham 39,500
- 41. Sanderson Lam 38,000
- 46. Gary Wilson 35,000
