FURIOUS Stuart Bingham went ballistic at a photographer as he crashed out of the UK Championship.
The 48-year-old former world champ pointed his cue at the crowd as he dubbed the man behind the lens his “kryptonite”.
The 25th seed echoed Scot John Higgins’ exit from the tournament in the second round.
But unlike Higgins, who was dumped out by world No.1 Judd Trump in a four hour epic, Bingham went down fighting.
The 25th seed lost 6-5 to China’s Zhang Anda – despite being 5-1 to the good at once stage in the match.
And he was left seething with a photographer at York’s Barbican after missing the 14th black for a maximum 147.
Bingham could be seen glaring and muttering towards the crowd after the error, banging his cue on the way back to his seat after pointing it in the direction of the spectators.
Post-match, Bingham didn’t mince words admitting: “It was a photographer.
“He ran in just before I was taking that shot. Photographers just seem to be my kryptonite.”
He did go on to take two further frames – before a collapse that saw Anda set up a quarter-final clash with Trump.
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His jubilant adversary Zhang reflected on the match, saying: “It was a very tough game and for the first session I did nothing wrong.
“Just some safety play which was bad and Stuart took his chances. At 5-1 down I tried everything to win and not let the pressure beat me.”
On being asked about Bingham’s bungled 147 bid, Zhang said: “I was feeling nervous. But I feel a little bit disappointed for him.”
The incident brought a close to what had been a trying competition for Bingham, who had earlier made headlines with a break that fans dubbed “the worst ever” when he inadvertently pocketed the black.
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
Most World Titles (modern era)
