Stuart Bingham dumped out of UK Championship by Yu Delu
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 26/11/16 11:37pm
World No 2 Stuart Bingham became the latest high-profile cueman to make an early exit from the Betway UK Championship following a 6-4 defeat to China's Yu Delu.
Bingham held a 4-3 lead but missed a series of simple shots and then dropped the last three frames.
The former world champion followed Neil Robertson, last year's winner of this tournament, in being eliminated in the early rounds in York.
Mark Selby, the only man ranked above Bingham, avoided suffering second-round embarrassment himself, though it hardly more serene as he could only record a narrow 6-4 victory over Daniel Wells.
Selby admitted that he was not in form during a tense match that saw him slip 3-1 behind to world No 68 Wells before he reeled off four of the last five frames to come through the test.
"In patches I played okay, in other patches I was terrible, but I'm just happy to get the win," he said.
"It was a battle. My focus dipped in and out. It is still the early stages of the tournament, I don't want to peak too soon."
John Higgins was another leading light who had to battle to keep himself in the competition as he came from 3-2 down to see off Noppon Saengkham, ranked 69 places beneath him, 6-4.
"I dodged a bullet there, I'm just delighted to get through," added the former two-time winner of this tournament. "I really did think I'd be heading up the road when I went 4-3 down."
Barry Hawkins was unable to prevent a shock, though, falling to a 6-5 loss to Fergal O'Brien as the veteran mustered five centuries to oust the 2013 World Championship finalist.
