Bingham wins Dougguan Open

Stuart Bingham secured the title by beating Liang Wenbo 4-1

Stuart Bingham claimed his first title of the season as he defeated Liang Wenbo 4-1 to win the final Asian Tour Event of the season. Wenbo, who looks back to his best, won the opener with a break of 81 but Bingham battled back and runs of 58, 52, 76 and 68 saw him take the next four on the bounce to seal the match. It’s Bingham’s second Asian Tour event victory, after winning one of the tournaments last season.

Bingham secured his final place by battling back from 2-0 down against amateur player Cai Jianzhong 4-2, with to breaks of 50 and 72. Wenbo also had to come back from 2-0 down to defeat compatriot Yu De Lu, with top runs of 143 and 95 on course to a 4-2 victory.

Race for the Players Championship Finals
Bingham’s triumph on Saturday also had an impact on the players qualifying for the Players Championship finals. He moved up to third in the Asian Order of Merit, meaning he qualifies for the Players Championship via that list, allowing Barry Hawkins, who was ranked 25th on the European Order of Merit, to sneak into the finals.

Alan McManus was the victim of this movement, although he was guaranteed to lose his place even if Jianzhong had beaten Bingham in the semis.

The other players qualifying for the Players Championship via the Asian Order of Merit are Liang Wenbo, Ju Reti, Joe Perry, Lu Haotian, Michael Holt, Scott Donaldson and Yu De Lu.

Tour Cards
Jianzhong’s semi-final defeat to Bingham meant he lost his chance of securing one of the four two-year tour cards on offer via the Asian Order of Merit.

Ju Reti, Liu Chuang and Lu Chenwei will all receive the two-year cards, with Rouzi Maimaiti also likely to receive on due to Zhou Yuelong receiving a tour place after winning the IBSF World Amateur Championship.