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| Ding celebrates his seventh major title alongside runner-up Xiao Guodong (Image World Snooker) |
Ding Junhui prevailed in the first ever all-Chinese ranking
event final as he defeated Xiao Guodong 0-6 in Shanghai.
Ding had reached the final with a resolute performance which
saw him beat Barry Hawkins 6-2 on Saturday whilst Xiao made it through to his
first ever final by defeating Michael Holt 6-3, including century breaks of 111
and 127.
Ding started the better, winning the open two frames but he
was pegged back at the interval as Xiao took the next two with breaks of 62 and
67. Ding took the next with a 66 break but Xiao once again restored parity with
a run of 52 in the next. But Ding began to eke out a lead and finished strongly
to take the final three frames of the session, including runs of 128 and 56 to
lead 6-3.
Xiao started the evening session well making an 87 break in
frame ten but Ding closed in on the title, with breaks of 58, 78 and 81 seeing
him go 9-4 up at the interval. Xiao, who’s now up to his highest ever ranking
of 28, was not ready to throw in the towel and battled back to win the next two
comprehensively but Ding knocked in a run of 71 in the 16th to see
him claim his seventh major ranking title and his first in China since the 2005
China Open.
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