A RESURGENT Peter Ebdon revealed he "felt like a professional snooker player again" after he sent the World Champion packing from the Betway UK Championship.

The 2006 winner in York rolled back the years to beat Stuart Bingham 6-3 - a feat made all the more remarkable after having only come through an epic final frame shootout with Dominic Dale barely 12 hours earlier.

Ebdon's second round match with the Welshman went on until just before 1.30am in the early hours of Monday morning and the 45-year-old needed all of his powers of stamina to be back at the main arena for a 1pm start.

The well-known vegan said: "I probably didn't get to sleep until about 3am because it's very difficult to switch off when you've been involved in a tense match like that. I probably got about five hours sleep and just relaxed, had some fruit on the way to the venue.

"I probably had four or five bananas. I had some apples, grapes - just fruit - and felt really, really good on it. I feel as fresh as a daisy. I didn't exactly feel like that at 1.45am after an epic game against Dominic."

Ebdon still exploded out of the traps, with Crucible winner Bingham in a hole trailing 3-1 at the mid-session interval. Showing no signs of tiredness, he had bolted into the lead thanks to a break of 66 before adding the second frame.

Bingham, plagued by some casual misses, got on the board in the third frame with 88 but another poor strike early in the fourth condemned him to a two frame deficit at the break.

At that stage, Ebdon had potted nearly double the balls of Bingham - 88 to 46 - and he kicked on after the resumption, moving to within a frame of victory with 52 in the eighth and then finishing in classy style with 109.

"I think it's only because I have worked so hard in preparation for this tournament, in particular, that I was able to produce what I did against Dominic," Ebdon added.

"It still doesn't mean that you are guaranteed to produce that but it's nice to do that occasionally and know it has come out because I have worked so hard in preparation for a tournament."

He continued: "I am absolutely delighted. That's a massive, massive win for me. It would have been so easy for me, not playing on those conditions against a top player for quite some time, to fold. I just felt fantastic out there.

"I felt like a professional snooker player again. I don't feel like that when I am not playing on the big stage. It just doesn't do anything for me. It just doesn't."

Bingham said: "It was just a tough battle. You obviously know what you are going to get with Peter. I thought he played particularly well, especially after coming off at 1.30am in the morning.

"He probably didn't get to sleep until three o'clock but I thought he played really well. He got in first in most frames and he controlled the tempo of the match.

"I had a chance. I was 2-0 down and made a good 88 to go 2-1. I had a chance in the next but got a kick.

"If I don't get a kick I fancy clearing up and, at 3-1, from there it is a tough battle against Peter. I think he played pretty well and I think he's rolled back the years there - especially in that last frame with the ton."