STUART Bingham became a winner of a world ranking event once again, ending an almost two-year drought for silverware by winning the Welsh Open in thrilling fashion.

Stuart Bingham. Picture by Monique Limbos

The World number two got to experience the winning feeling again after he came back from 8-7 behind to beat Judd Trump 9-8 in Cardiff in what was described as one of the best matches of the season to date.

And for Bingham is it has been a long wait for another snooker trophy, his last pone came when he won the World Championship title in 2015 beating Shaun Murphy at the Crucible.

The thrilling win was also Bingham’s first ever Welsh Open title as he made up for finishing runner up in the tournament four years ago when he lost to Stephen Maguire.

Bingham collected the £70,000 prize and became the first player to get his hands on the new Ray Reardon Trophy – named after the Welshman who won six World Championship titles in his successful snooker career.

The next snooker on the calendar sees the Snooker Shoot Out starting on Friday (February 24) which for the first time will be played as a major ranking event despite its untraditional format.