World Championship 2025: Stuart Bingham and Stephen Maguire suffer early exit as Ali Carter, Matthew Stevens reach final qualifying round

Stuart Bingham will be denied the chance to mark the 10th anniversary of his 2015 world title win at the Crucible after the former Masters winner lost 10-6 to Michael Holt in the third round of qualifying on Monday. Bingham will be joined on the sidelines by former UK winner Stephen Maguire, who was dumped 10-3 by Gao Yang with former Welsh Open champion Robert Milkins losing 10-5 to Wang Yuchen.

Stuart Bingham will mark the 10th anniversary of his World Championship victory in 2015 by being forced to watch the 2025 event unfold from a spectating vantage point.

The former Crucible winner defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 13-10 on his way to reaching the last four as a qualifier before losing to 17-12 Jak Jones last season, but was bundled out in the third round by Michael Holt, who resumed 5-4 ahead before completing a merited 10-6 win.

It is the first time Bingham, who completed an 18-15 win over Shaun Murphy in the final a decade ago, has failed to qualify for the Crucible since 2010.

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Former Shoot Out winner Holt will face Fan Zhengyi for a last-32 spot on Wednesday after finishing with a 130 knock after earlier rolling in seven 50-plus breaks.

"The Crucible is such a special place to play snooker," said Holt, who famously defeated Neil Robertson 10-6 in the first round in 2016.

"You never forget it, whether it has been good or bad. You just want to get there. It is a twitchy game, you have to put it to the back of your mind and get to 10.

"It was great qualifying for the UK Championship. It was a nice story after being off the tour and now being back on. It would be great to get back to the Crucible again.

"When you drop off the circuit, you don’t know whether you will get there again or even play professional snooker again.

"I’ve got another mountain to climb and, ironically, if I do manage that, I’m only at base camp."

Bingham was joined on the casualty list by fellow former semi-finalist Stephen Maguire, who was thumped 10-3 by 20-year-old amateur Gao Yang as he saw his hopes of reaching the final qualifying round go up in smoke.

Recent Welsh Open finalist Maguire made 109 on his way to levelling at 3-3, but shipped the final seven frames with Gao finishing off with a classy 120 break.

O'Sullivan on how Reardon turned him into a 'chess player'

Video credit: TNT Sports

On a day which saw Jackson Page become the first player to compile two 147 breaks in the same match, Gao, who faces Lei Peifan in the round of 48, was on for a maximum in the final frame of his win over Maguire, but missed the final yellow on 120.

But there was better news for the two-time finalists Ali Carter and Matthew Stevens, who are both one win away from reaching the last 32.

Carter fought back from 7-6 behind to defeat Ian Burns 10-8 while Stevens defeated Thai speed merchant Thepchaiya Un-Nooh by the same scoreline.

Stevens will face Wu Yize for a Crucible spot over two sessions on Wednesday, with Carter taking on He Guoqiang, who edged out Scott Donaldson 10-9, boosted by two centuries.

But former Welsh Open champion Robert Mikins also saw a premature end to his season as he suffered a 10-5 reverse to Wang Yuchen.

• Page makes history by becoming first player to make two 147s in same match
• World Snooker Championship qualifying: How it works, results and schedule
• When is draw for first round as O'Sullivan, Wilson and Trump chase Crucible glory?

World Championship 3rd round qualifying results

• Ali Carter 10-8 Ian Burns
• Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 8-10 Matthew Stevens
• Wu Yize 10-4 Jiang Jun
• Hossein Vafaei 10-7 Duane Jones
• Stephen Maguire 3-10 Gao Yang
• Lei Peifan 10-6 David Lilley
• Robert Milkins 5-10 Wang Yuchen
• Jackson Page 10-2 Allan Taylor
• Scott Donaldson 9-10 He Guoqiang
• Jimmy Robertson 10-9 Stan Moody
• Matthew Selt 10-3 Anthony Hamilton
• Jamie Jones 10-7 Xu Si
• Fan Zhengyi 10-6 Robbie Williams
• Pang Junxu 10-2 Ashley Carty
• Iulian Boiko 4-10 Joe O'Connor

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The 49th World Championship - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - takes place between April 19 and May 5.

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