Stuart Bingham aims to park UK Championship heartbreak and join exclusive club of Triple Crown winners
Former World and Masters Champion Stuart Bingham begins his latest bid for a maiden UK Championship title against youngster Liam Pullen in the third qualifying round on Tuesday morning in Wigan.
World number 20 Bingham needs to win two preliminary matches at the Robin Park Leisure Centre over the coming days in order to reach the main draw, televised stages of snooker's second-most prestigious ranking tournament.
If he can overcome maximum man Pullen, Bingham would face a Scotsman in the final qualifying round - either Anthony McGill or Scott Donaldson.
A player who seems to prioritise every event he plays in regardless of its status or prize fund, there is extra importance when it comes to the UK Championship for Bingham - the one remaining accolade he needs in order to complete a 'Career Triple Crown'.
Steve Davis (6-3-6) - completed in January 1982
Terry Griffiths (1-1-1) - completed in December 1982
Alex Higgins (1-2-2) - completed in December 1983
Stephen Hendry (5-6-7) - completed in April 1990
John Higgins (3-2-4) - completed in February 1999
Mark Williams (2-2-3) - completed in May 2000
Ronnie O'Sullivan (8-8-7) - completed in May 2001
Neil Robertson (3-2-1) - completed in December 2013
Mark Selby (2-3-4) - completed in May 2014
Shaun Murphy (1-2-1) - completed in January 2015
Judd Trump (2-2-1) - completed in May 2019
(UK Championship titles – Masters titles – World Championship titles)
Information above correct as of November 2025
Bingham was one of the cueists who thrived under the Barry Hearn administration when it took over the sport around 15 years ago, as the sports supremo and his team laid on a plethora of new events which provided ample playing opportunities for the whole tour.
A professional since 1995, Bingham - a former English, and World Amateur Champion - won his first ranking title on the top tier at the 2011 Australian Open, and doubled his tally at the 2014 Shanghai Masters.
The greatest moment of his career arrived in 2015, when - as a pre-tournament 50/1 shot - Bingham defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarters, Judd Trump in the semis, and then Shaun Murphy in the final to win the World Championship title at the Crucible Theatre.
Three further ranking triumphs have come since then, and he added to this Triple Crown count by winning the invitational 2020 Masters at the Alexandra Palace following a 10-8 win over fellow Essex cueman Ali Carter in the final.
With the world and Masters boxes ticked, Bingham requires the UK Championship to become only the 12th player in professional snooker history to have won the sport's three biggest titles.
Steve Davis was the first to achieve the set in 1982. Since then, Terry Griffiths, Alex Higgins, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, and Judd Trump have joined the elite club of champions. Trump became the latest member after his Crucible success in 2019.
Now aged 49, Bingham is running out of time to be inducted into this prestigious order, but another opportunity arises over the next fortnight.
Stuart Bingham’s UK Championship record up to and including 2024
Bingham has come agonisingly close to a maiden UK Championship final on three occasions in past, each time ended in a final frame heartbreak.
A quarter-finalist three times before, 'Ball-Run' made the last four for the first time in 2013 after eliminating then reigning world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last eight.
In an extraordinary semi-final encounter, Bingham battled back from 8-3 down to force a deciding frame with Neil Robertson but was pipped in a dramatic climax.
The next year, Bingham got to the same stage again where he led O'Sullivan 4-1 in the best-of-11 showdown but came out on the losing side, 6-5.
And in 2018 he returned to the one-table set-up at the Barbican Centre in York for the third time, built a 3-1 advantage over Mark Allen yet was made to suffer in the decider.
From his six UK appearances since then, Bingham has not reached a quarter-final.
This season has been largely uneventful for Bingham, although he did collect very decent prize money in making the last 16 of both the Saudi Arabia Masters and Xi'an Grand Prix ranking competitions. He is currently 29th on the one-year list, a position that provisionally qualifies him for the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong later this term.
Back in March, Bingham made the title match of that Players Series event in the Far East - his first ranking final appearance in nearly six years - but had a day to forget as he was whitewashed 10-0 by Robertson. His last ranking glory came in 2019 at the Gibraltar Open.
Away from the World Snooker Tour, Bingham won the inaugural Pluto TV Snooker 900 professionals league last week in Reading, finishing top of a five-player group featuring fellow tour card holders Mark Davis, Jimmy White, Ken Doherty, and Reanne Evans.