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| Venue: Alexandra Palace, London Dates: 8 January-15 January |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV and Red Button with uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app |
Former Masters champion Stuart Bingham is experimenting with glasses and contact lenses in practice as he seeks a return to winning ways.
And Bingham, from Basildon, has not gone further than round two of any knockout tournament so far this season.
“I’m not stringing matches together – I’m getting older, my eyesight’s going a little bit,” he told BBC Essex Sport.
“I’m looking at shots and they look good, but I’m missing them. I’m trying to get my head round it, trying glasses and contacts.”
Bingham tried contacts in practice before his Masters triumph three years ago but “didn’t really feel there was much difference” and stopped wearing them.
Now, however, the world number 14 says he is “trying everything” in the hope of “a bit of silverware” to add to his collection.
“At the moment I put them in and everything seems like HD [high definition], but there isn’t much difference in seeing the end of the table, it’s more close up that I’m struggling with at the moment,” he said.
“The last couple of months have been tough on the tour, but I’ve just started with a new coach to move things in the right way.”
Bingham faces Kyren Wilson on Wednesday in his opening match at this year’s Masters.
“[Playing] Kyren – always going to be a tough game. I got one over him at the Worlds last season, he beat me here 12 months ago. We always have a good game and it will be no different Wednesday night,” said Bingham.
Although Bingham has won six ranking titles, including the 2015 World Championship, the Masters remains one of his favourite events.
“It was only three years ago [that I won], it feels like about seven with what’s gone on in the world. The atmosphere when you walk out is superb and if you can get the crowd on your side, it’s a bonus,” he added.
“All the years of watching this, the likes of Alex Higgins, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, all the greats that have won this, to get your hands on that trophy, you know you’ve done something special.”
