Basildon snooker professional Stuart Bingham will be hoping that Irish eyes will be smiling on him when he takes on world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan in the Citywest Irish Masters in March.
Having successfully negotiated three qualifying rounds in Blackpool, Bingham, who plays out of Leigh's Executive Club, qualified for the Essex derby with Chigwell's "Rocket" Ronnie in Dublin when the competition proper gets underway.
Having overcome Peter Lines and David Roe while dropping only one frame, Bingham found his task in the final qualifying round much tougher against one of the game's most established stars, Malta's Tony Drago.
The pair shared the first six frames and, although Drago went ahead with a break of 115, the new towner levelled before winning through with a 53.
It was a real high-speed affair with the nine frames lasting less than two hours.
Bingham carried on the good work in Blackpool with a 5-4 win over Mark Gray in the third qualifying round of the Regal Scottish event.
Published Tuesday, January 21, 2003
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