STUART BINGHAM has told how being branded psychologically weak by his Northern Irish rival, Mark Allen, set him on the path to becoming world champion.
Allen claimed in 2011 that the 38-year-old from Basildon had "no bottle" and paid the price when losing to him in the Australian Goldfields Open later that year.
Bingham went on to claim that title, his first major victory in more than 10 years as a professional, and has taken his game to new levels in recent times by adding the Betfred World Championship to the Shanghai Masters crown he captured when thrashing Allen 10-3 in the final in September.
"I've got to give thanks to Mark Allen," said Bingham in the wake of his 18-15 win over Shaun Murphy in Sunday night's final at The Crucible. "He got my back up that week in Australia by saying I had no bottle, but, since then, that's all changed.
"I'm world champion, but I'm going to be the same person. I hope I'll be a good role model."
The pre-tournament outsider admits, all the same, that there were some hairy moments requiring skilful negotiation during that momentous tussle with Murphy. At 15-15, having let a 14-11 lead slip, he concedes that he could see his greatest victory slipping through his hands.
"Coming into the final session, I was talking to my wife and saying: 'I don't want to go out there'. I felt that nervous," he said.
"Losing three of the first four frames, I thought I had blown it, but, somehow, I held myself together."
Bingham collected a £300,000 paycheque through his efforts and is now planning to move house and buy a new car with wife Michelle. He insists, however, that the cash pales into insignificance beside that famous piece of silverware.
"My manager won't like this, but I could easily donate that money because it doesn't mean anything to me," he said. "Just to put my hands on that trophy, seeing all the names on it, is just everything."
Bingham began to sense that he could take the top prize after beating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the quarter-finals, but had to focus on calming the voice inside his head telling him that he might just be good enough to go all the way.
"After beating Ronnie, I woke up at six o'clock in the morning and the winners' speech was going through my head, but I thought: 'Don't get carried away'," he revealed.
Bingham will rise to number two in the world rankings as a result of his victory and also shared the £10,000 cheque for highest break with Neil Robertson thanks to the 145 he knocked in against O'Sullivan.
There is also a very special souvenir he has snared from his time in Sheffield, though. He claims to have got his hands on the table used in the final and plans to give it pride of place in the Games Room of his new abode.
"I'm a bit of a snooker geek," he smiled. "I want to get my hands on the set of balls and get the white gloves off the referee as well, so my boy can look back at all the stuff I've collected over the years."
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