The Englishman bounced back from the disappointment of surrendering his Masters reign last week.
Stuart Bingham was in fine form as he won Group C of the WST Pro Series at a canter on Thursday in Milton Keynes.
The 44 year-old won all seven of his round-robin fixtures by a 2-0 scoreline to comprehensively finish in first place.
Bingham was in dominant form throughout Group C, with the highlight represented by successive century breaks made in his defeat of Jamie Clarke.
The former world champion advances to the last 32 in March, with Sam Craigie joining him in the second group stage of the new competition.
Craigie’s win-loss record of 5-2 proved to be enough as he qualified ahead of Clarke, Chris Wakelin, and Scott Donaldson.
What is the WST Pro Series?
The format for the WST Pro Series is quite similar to that which was unitilised for two out of the three editions of the Championship League that were staged during 2020.
There are 16 groups comprising eight players in each, with a round-robin phase determining the top two who will advance to the second group stage.
Eight groups in the first stage take place this week, while the remaining eight groups are in March.
The 32 players who progress to stage two will be split into four more groups of eight, with the top two again moving forward from each to contest the final group.
That remaining set of eight players will subsequently battle it out in the same fashion to become the overall champion.
There is a total tournament prize fund of £420,500, broken down in various ways through the three group stages.
The winner, however, stands to collect at least £30,000 in an event that incorporates a sprint best-of-three frames format throughout.
We all know @Stuart__Bingham loves making maximums.
But today, he achieved a different sort of snooker perfection.
He won 14 from 14 frames 🤯 #WSTProSeries pic.twitter.com/0VFpk5bAqT
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) January 21, 2021
What’s Next?
On Friday, Group K takes place with Anthony McGill, Zhao Xintong, Mark King, Dominic Dale, Lee Walker, Andy Hicks, Peter Devlin, and Si Jiahui involved.
Live coverage will be available via an account with several online bookmakers, as well as around the world through the Matchroom.Live streaming service.
Click here to view the full draw (Times in CET)
