May 4th 2024.
Stuart Bingham was feeling quite frustrated with himself after his recent defeat in the World Snooker Championship semi-finals. He didn't hold back in his assessment of his own performance, calling it "embarrassing" as he fell to a 17-12 loss against Jak Jones.
Initially, Bingham had entered the match with a lot of confidence, especially after his victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals. In fact, he started off strong with a 3-0 lead. But unfortunately, that was pretty much the highlight of his game. He only showed glimpses of his usual brilliant self, managing to score two tons and two half-centuries in the next 26 frames.
On the other hand, Jones himself admitted that he wasn't playing his best, but Bingham felt that his own performance was far from where it should have been. "Embarrassing really," he told the BBC. "I must have given away eight frames. I probably missed eight or nine blacks off the spot. You just can't make such mistakes at this level. I'm really disappointed, especially after playing so well against Ronnie. I just didn't enjoy myself out there."
Bingham continued to express his disappointment, acknowledging that everything felt like hard work during the match. He made too many mistakes, which ultimately cost him the game. "He didn't even have to work hard to get in. You can see that he's a great cueist - very calm and composed. Towards the end, he did get a bit jittery, but I just didn't have anything left in me."
Jones, on the other hand, had beaten two former champions on his way to the final, including Bingham himself and Judd Trump. Bingham praised his opponent's skills, saying, "He's a great player, and he's played really well. But I can't understand why I played so poorly. It's just gutting."
Speaking on Eurosport, Bingham admitted that he missed too many easy shots and gave Jones too many easy opportunities. He was disappointed in his own performance and couldn't quite pinpoint why it had gone so wrong. "This has been happening for the last couple of years. I put in a good performance and beat Ronnie in the previous round, only to play shocking snooker in the following match. It's really disheartening to end it this way."
Bingham also reflected on the fact that he had chances to win many of the frames, but couldn't capitalize on them. Despite Jones' victory, Bingham felt like he had every chance to win, but he just couldn't seem to get his game together when it mattered most. "I'm disappointed that I didn't put up a better fight in the end. I'm just gutted."
As for Jones, he couldn't quite believe his own success. "I don't think I'm playing well, I'm just winning," he said. "I'm not doing anything exceptional. I'm not scoring heavy or doing anything flashy." Jones had managed to defeat Zhang Anda, Si Jiahui, and Judd Trump before beating Bingham in the semi-finals. But he couldn't quite explain how he kept pulling off these victories.
In other news, Dave Gilbert also shared his thoughts on the ongoing Crucible tournament, while Ronnie O'Sullivan discussed what Kyren Wilson was doing differently from everyone else. It was a tough competition, and the players had much to say about their experiences.
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