BASILDON potter Stuart Bingham insists it will take something special to stop him from winning the UK Snooker Championship – provided he maintains his first-round form.

Bingham romped into the second round at the Barbican in York on the first evening with a comfortable 6-0 victory over Thailand’s Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon.

The result marks a promising start to one of the biggest tournaments on the snooker calendar and one to which Bingham is no stranger – after a quarter-final finish two years ago, he reached the last four in 2013.

The 38-year-old admits he has set the bar for himself at the Barbican and, if his level doesn’t drop, believes there is no reason why he can’t go even further than last year.

“If I can carry on playing like that then someone’s going to have to play really well to beat me,” he said. “It was probably my best performance of the season – scoring-wise, I think I had a 60-plus break in every frame.

“I was ready for a tough game – Thanawat has been around for a few years and I couldn’t believe how lowly ranked he was.

“It’s tough for the lower ranked players like Thanawat because he’s down at around 120 and he knows he’s going to play a high-ranked player.

“But he’s a class player, he’s made a 147 before but I made it pretty easy in the end. My season has been really good – confidence is very high and if I can continue to play like that, I will be very happy.”

Bingham can now enjoy a break before his second-round clash, where he will face Alfie Burden on Sunday evening in York.

And when he returns he will have an eye on prolonging what has been a productive season to date, with the Shanghai Masters title already in his trophy cabinet.

He also tasted victory at a PTC event in Haining last month and, with the TV cameras shining next week, he is excited by the prospect of seeking to add to the collection.

“It will be a tough game next for me – Alfie is a seasoned campaigner like myself. When I play him on Sunday night, it will be tough,” he added.

“I’ll go back to my family before the second round – I’ll spend some time with the kids and come back up either Friday or Saturday.

“It will be a bit surreal going home but the TV coverage starts on Saturday, so that's when the tournament really begins.”

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