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Stuart Bingham beats Peter Ebdon at World Snooker Championship

Stuart Bingham during his match against Peter Ebdon on day three of the Betfred Snooker World Championships at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.
Image: Stuart Bingham will face Kyren Wilson in the second round after victory over Peter Ebdon at the World Championship

Stuart Bingham won the battle of the former world champions at the Crucible, beating Peter Ebdon 10-5 to seal a place in the second round.

With four finals between them the pair were separated by just one frame overnight, Ebdon rallying from 3-0 and 5-2 down to stay in touch and trail 5-4 before their match was concluded on Monday.

And when they returned it was 2015 champion Bingham who prevailed, winning five on the six frames to advance to the last 16 where he will face highly-rated Kyren Wilson who beat David Grace on Sunday.

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The 2002 champion and two-time-runner-up Ebdon had battled through to The Crucible after qualifying but has not won a first-round match in Sheffield since 2008 when he reached the quarter-final and his hopes were extinguished after a dominant Bingham took the first three frames of the session.

Trailing 8-4 Ebdon pinched a frame back before world number three Bingham rattled off the next two to book his place in the second round.

Shaun Murphy withstood a brave fightback from China's Yan Bingtao, who gave the 2005 champion a huge scare before Murphy eventually prevailed.

Shaun Murphy during his match against Yan Bingtao on day three of the Betfred Snooker World Championships at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.
Image: Shaun Murphy saw off Yan Bingtao and will next face Ronnie O'Sullivan

The 34-year-old built on his overnight advantage and leading 9-4 stood just a frame away from a place in the second round, but his opponent rallied gamely to close with one frame and leave Murphy facing a second successive first round.

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But the two-time runner-up edged a thrilling 18th frame to set up the mouthwatering prospect of a second round meeting with Ronnie O'Sullivan.

There was drama in the evening session, as Marco Fu battled back from 7-2 down to defeat Belgian qualifier Luca Brecel 10-9.

Hong Kong's Fu levelled the contest at 8-8 as his opponent struggled for momentum only for Brecel to take the next to leave him one frame from victory.

But the world No 8 reeled off breaks of 85 and 56 to clinch the last two frames and seal his place in the next round, where he will face either Thailand's Noppon Saengkham or former Crucible winner Neil Robertson of Australia.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland's world No 11 Mark Allen edged out English qualifier Jimmy Robertson 10-8 in another hard-fought affair.

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World Snooker Championship - Draw

Mark Selby (1) v Ryan Day (16)/Xiao Guodong
Neil Robertson (9)/Noppon Saengkham v Marco Fu (8)
Shaun Murphy (5) v Ronnie O'Sullivan (12)
Liang Wenbo (13)/Stuart Carrington v Ding Junhui (4)/Zhou Yuelong
Stuart Bingham (3) v Kyren Wilson (14)
Mark Allen (11) v John Higgins (6)/Martin Gould
Barry Hawkins (7)/Tom Ford v Ali Carter (10)/Graeme Dott
Stephen Maguire v Judd Trump (2)/Rory McLeod

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