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Meet Stuart Bingham, the well-known Ball-Runner
Stuart Bingham has established himself as a competent snooker player. He is now ranked number 12 in the world and has previously been ranked number two.
Most snooker players and fans do not regard him as a major danger to Mark Selby, Ronnie O’Sullivan, or Kyren Wilson, but they are mistaken; he has defeated Stephen Hendry, Ding Junhui, Ronnie, and others.
Stuart Bingham in a waistcoat, most likely getting ready for a game
He has defeated top-ranking players; he even defeated World Champion Stephen Hendry while he was rated 97th in the world.
Furthermore, despite winning no-ranking titles for 16 years of his professional snooker career, he never gave up hope.
He has demonstrated that constant effort can lead to achievement, even if it takes time.
Let’s discover more about this fascinating individual, beginning with some quick facts.
Stuart Bingham | Childhood Ball-run was born on May 21, 1976, in Basildon Hospital in Basildon, England.
His father, Eddie Bingham, and mother, Maureen Bingham, raised him as their youngest son.
He attended Swan Mead Junior School while growing up in Basildon with his older brother Lee Bingham.
He afterward transferred to the Barnstable School, where he completed his high school education.
Unfortunately, Bingham has withheld a lot of information regarding his childhood.
Stuart Bingham’s Early Career
As an amateur, the Englishman entered the world of snooker in 1990.
But it wasn’t until 1996 that he established himself.
He finally won a big title, the 1996 IBSF World Snooker Championship, after six years of hard work.
In the finals, he faced Stan Gorski and easily defeated him, winning 11-5.
He also won the English Amateur and the World Amateur Championship in the same year.
The following year, he reached the World Amateur Championship finals again but was defeated by Marco Fu.
Stuart Bingham reached the semi-finals of the 1999 Welsh Open, upsetting then-world champion John Higgins.
Later, in the first round of the 2000 World Championship, Bingham upset defending champion Stephen Hendry.
He accomplished this while ranking 97th in the world. In the second round, he was defeated by Jimmy White.
Furthermore, while Bingham did not compete in the World Championship in 2001, he did qualify in 2002, defeating Nigel Bond in the final qualifying round.
In the first round, Bingham faced kenDoherty, who attempted a maximum break of 147 but missed the final pink ball.
That single miss cost him the match, which he lost to Ken (10-8).
In 2007, he advanced to the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters but was upset by Mark Selby (0-5).
Similarly, the same year, he reached the top 16 of the UK Championship before falling to Shaun Murphy (3-9).
Moving on to the World Championship, he qualified for the 2008 World Championship after defeating Adrian Gunnell in the final qualifying round.
He defeated Steve Davis in the first round but fell to Joe Perry in the second.
Bingham defeated Ding Junhui in the first round of the 2011 Australian Goldfield Open to claim his first ranking championship.
With a perfect whitewash, he defeated Tom Ford.
Furthermore, he defeated Mark Allen in the quarter-finals and Shaun Murphy in the semi-finals to advance to the finals against Mark Williams.
Bingham was more than ready to give it his all, and he did; Bingham defeated Mark, winning four frames in a row.
He improved his score from 5-8 to 9-8, earning him his first ranking title.
After 16 years of professional snooker, he won his first ranking title at the 2011 Australian Goldfield Open.
Bingham celebrates his victory
Given his accomplishments, he was ranked in the top 11 of the world, the highest he had ever been ranked.
The Australian title also qualified him for the 2012 invitational Masters.
But his winning streak came to a stop in the first round of the Masters, when he was defeated by Judd Trump.
In the seven ranking events, Bingham did not even make it through the second round.
Furthermore, at the 2012 World Championship, he lost in the first round against Stephen Hendry, therefore ending his season.
Despite his dismal performance that year, he finished the season in 16th place in the global rankings.
Championship of the World
Stuart Bingham advanced to the World Championship semi-finals in 2015, defeating Robbie Williams (10-7), Graeme Dott (13-5), and Ronnie O’Sullivan (13-9).
Stuart met one of the best snooker players, Judd Trump, in the semi-finals; honestly, Judd Trump was significantly superior to Bingham, but Ball-Run won the match (17-16).
Finally, he advanced to the World Championship finals for the first time in his career.
In the finals, he was slated to face Shaun Murphy. Murphy dominated the first two games, leading 3-0 and 8-4.
But Bingham was not one to let his morale suffer as a result of his earlier dominance.
He won the 2015 World Championship with a final score of 18-15.
Bingham won his first World Championship after 20 years of professional snooker, relentless effort, blood, sweat, and tears, propelling him to No. 2 in the world rankings.
That was the highest position he’d ever held in his career.
Following that, he advanced to the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters, where he was defeated by Judd Trump (6-3).
The following year, he overcame Ding Junhui (6-4) and John Higgins (6-3) to reach the 2016 Masters semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, Bingham met Ronnie O’Sullivan and was defeated (6-3).
Bingham also advanced to the semi-finals of the 2016 World Grand Prix.
In the semi-finals, he faced Joe Perry and won 6-5 after rallying from a 3-0 deficit.
This was his first appearance in the year’s finale.
Return and ban
In the finals of the 2017 Welsh Open, Bingham faced Judd Trump.
He won the first four frames, but Judd came back to change the score to 8-7.
The Ball-Run wasn’t one to give up either; he won the title after winning the two frames required to take the title away from Judd.
It was his first title since winning the World Championship in 2015.
Following that, he fell 13-10 to Kyren in the second round of the World Championship.
Bingham then said that he would be using a new cue and working with Terry Griffiths for the following season, but he was unable to play since he was found guilty of betting.
He broke the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association’s betting rules, earning him a six-month ban and a 20,000-pound fine.
The restriction was lifted in early 2018.
When he returned, he kicked off the season with a bang, winning the English Open over Mark Davis 9-7.
Furthermore, he reached the 2018 UK Championship semi-finals before losing to Mark Allen in the last frame.
Moving on, he defeated defending champion Ryan Ray at the 2019 Gibraltar Open.
This was his second-ranking victory of the 2018/19 season.
Ranking Positions
- Mark Williams won the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open (9-8).
- Mark Allen in the 2014 Shanghai Masters (10-3).
- Shaun Murphy in the 2015 World Snooker Championship (18-15).
- Judd Trump won the 2017 Welsh Open (9-8).
- Mark Davis in the 2018 English Open (9-7).
- Ryan Day will compete in the 2019 Gibraltar Open (4-1).
Net Worth
Bingham has a net worth of roughly £3,450,000 based solely on prize money.
Taking inflation into account, our experts estimate his net worth to be roughly $6 million.
Bingham appears to be rather educated; he has made some investments as a result of having to care for three children.
Wife and Children
In 2013, Bingham married Michelle Shabi.
After being postponed due to Bingham’s snooker tournament schedule, the wedding ceremony was held in Cyprus.
He even postponed his bachelor celebration to avoid missing the tournaments.
That takes dedication to a whole new level.
The couple spent their honeymoon in Thailand on the island of Koh Samui.
Since then, Stuart and Michelle have been living happily ever after.
Stuart Bingham, his wife, and their three children
In 2011, the couple welcomed their first child, a son whom they named Shae.
They later welcomed a daughter named Marnie Rose on January 15, 2017.
Stuart even got one of Marnie’s images tattooed on one of his forearms.
That demonstrates how much he adores his children.
He even held an ice cream cone for his son when he was hospitalized and watching TV.
Aside from that, Michelle already had a daughter from a previous relationship; Tegan, her first child/daughter, was born in 2003.
Stuart Bingham’s Facts
Stuart Bingham has nearly 500 century breaks, which places him tenth on the list of most century breaks.
He also ranks fourth on the list of most maximum breaks made in professional competition, with eight 147.
Bingham is also one of only two players to have won both the amateur and professional world championships.
Ken Doherty is the other player who has done it.
Despite playing professionally since 1995, Bingham has not even cracked the top 32 of the world snooker rankings until the 2006/07 season.
Stuart Bingham won the 2015 World Championship at the age of 38, making him the oldest first-time World Championship winner and the third oldest overall.
Bingham’s nickname, Ball-Run, has been around since his amateur snooker days.
The name was inspired by his good fortune.
In his amateur days, he had a reputation for getting lucky or having the ball run on his side.
Ball-Run is also the most recent Premier League Snooker champion, having defeated Judd Trump in the finals 7-2 in 2012.
The competition was thereafter replaced by the Champion of Champions.
Gary Filtness is Bingham’s coach, and he has worked closely with Gary Purkiss, an Essex-based businessman, throughout his career.
Stuart plays golf in addition to snooker.
He also donates to and supports the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
The organization helped his father-in-law later in life.
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