STUART Bingham was gobsmacked after knocking veteran snooker star Steve Davis out of the World Championship.

Davis threatened to pull off a remarkable fightback when he recovered from 8-3 down to level the match at 8-8, only for Basildon professional Bingham to claim the next two frames and seal a nerve-racking 10-8 victory.

Qualifier Bingham was delighted to scramble over the line, adding: "I'm speechless, almost. It's a big scalp for me.

"I've beaten Steve before but I was still thinking 'this is to beat Steve Davis at the Crucible'.

"It was overwhelming and I had to hold back a few tears actually."

The 17th frame proved crucial, a 44-minute marathon which saw Davis miss the final black and leave it over a corner pocket for Bingham.

"It was like my birthday and Christmas all rolled into one," Bingham admitted.

Davis could have played his last match at the Crucible after losing in the first round to Bingham.

Six-time champion Davis has now won just one match in the last three years at the Crucible and, by dropping out of the top 16 in the world at the end of the season, is faced with the prospect of qualifying for tournaments.

"It's a bit annoying, I felt as if I let it slip," said the 50-year-old.

"After getting back into the match and playing decent it's a bitter pill to then mess up a couple of golden opportunities in the last two frames.

"It's very disappointing, even though at one stage I would have settled for showing a bit of pride. When I couldn't hit the right side of a barn there was a sympathy 'come on' from the crowd, and that stuck in my throat.

"From 8-3 down those five frames were the best I've played all season so I can take some solace from that, but not much.

"I will look forward to next season as a challenge, a challenge to hold my own. Dropping out of the top 16 is not unworkable. Nobody expects too much of me but I still like to try."