Zhang Anda defeated Tom Ford by 10-6 in the final of the 2023 International Championship to become a ranking event winner for the first time. He also scored a 147 during the title match, his second competitive maximum and the 192d in professional snooker history.
Congratulations Zhang Anda!
Zhang Lands Tianjin Glory
China’s Zhang Anda claimed a momentous first ranking event title after defeating Englishman Tom Ford 10-6 in the final of the International Championship in Tianjin.
Zhang becomes the sixth player from mainland China to lift ranking silverware. He’s only the second player from China to win a ranking title on home soil, following in the footsteps of the legendary Ding Junhui who sparked huge interest in the sport with his win in the 2005 China Open.
The 31-year-old’s ascent has been a gradual one, having first turned professional back in 2009. He made his first ranking final earlier this season and had looked as if he would land a maiden win at the English Open. After leading Judd Trump 7-3 in the title match, Zhang fell foul of a six frame burst and lost 9-7.
Zhang has defeated an all-star cast to clinch the title this week, beating the likes of Ding, Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan. He now earns a place in next week’s Champion of Champions, where he will take on O’Sullivan.
He will also move into the world’s top 16 for the first time and automatically qualify for the upcoming MrQ UK Championship, dislodging his compatriot Ding. Zhang is now the highest ranked Chinese player, sitting in 15th position in the world rankings after scooping the £175,000 top prize.
Ford misses out on what would have been a maiden ranking title for himself. The Leicester cueman has now been beaten in all three of his ranking final appearances. Ford made it to the title match at the German Masters earlier this year, but was runner-up to Ali Carter after a heavy 10-3 loss. He earns £75,000 for his exertions this week.
An enthralling afternoon session saw Zhang emerge with a slender 5-4 advantage. He thrilled the packed Tianjin crowd by making a 147 break in the third frame, the second maximum of his career.
The first frame of the evening saw Ford immediately restore parity, crafting a fine break of 91 to make it 5-5. From there, Zhang mounted a charge towards the finish line. Breaks of 71, 65 and 108 made it 8-5, before he crucially edged a 30-minute 14th to make it four on the bounce and move one from victory at 9-5.
Ford fought hard to remain in contention and a valiant break of 55 saw him remain in contention at 9-6. He had a chance to reduce his arrears further in the 16th, but crucially spurned a black off the spot on a break of 51. Zhang saw his opportunity and pounced, firing in a match winning 71 to seal ranking event glory for the first time in his career.
“I’m feeling extremely excited. During the pandemic, I had considered retiring and giving up. But later on, I couldn’t bear it and chose to return to the arena. I have been doing quite well in the past two or three years,” admitted an elated Zhang.
“The English Open had a significant impact on my improvement. When facing a disadvantage, I tell myself not to slack off. The English Open final taught me a valuable lesson and provided a great experience. This time, I maintained my focus because the opponent could have come back at any moment.
“If you watch the maximum break back I had a fairly tough red where I stopped for a while. I made up my mind to play position for the black and it led to the 147. It was pretty straightforward after that point and I’m glad I went for it.
“Right now, I want to see my son immediately. After reaching the semi-finals, I had discussed with my family about bringing my son to Tianjin. I miss him a lot and because this tournament is in Tianjin and I didn’t have time to go back to Guangdong. However, after checking the transportation, I realised that the journey is still quite far for a young child, so I haven’t seen him yet.”
Ford said: “I am gutted I got beat. Zhang was the better player so hats off to him. He deserved to win. It has been an amazing week. A nice arena and a big crowd. It is always good to come to China. I can’t look at any positives at the moment as I got beat. I’ll look at it in the next few days and hopefully I’ll be a bit more positive.
Here is the last frame of the match, shared by Eurosport on their YouTube channel:
And Zhang’s maximum in frame 3 (with Chinese commentary)
This concludes what has been – in my opinion – an excellent tournament. Of course I would have loved to see Ronnie lift the trophy. It wasn’t to be and this is still his best run in a ranking event since winning the 2022 World Championship. I’m very happy for Zhang. It isn’t easy to live most of the time away from your family, in a foreign country and an alien culture, especially when you have young children. They grow fast and you are bound to miss a lot of things … their first words, their first steps, their first birthday… It’s moments like this that make all those sacrifices worth it, both at a personal level and as the family breadwinner because of the huge financial reward and the security it brings. Enjoy this moment, Zhang, you should be proud, very proud indeed.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Yes a great win for Zhang Anda. He’s won one of the biggest events in snooker, in his home country, with a 147 break in the final. It doesn’t really get any better than that! As he said in one of the interviews, his ony regret was that his young family were not able to attend (his son is only 3 years’ old).
Congratulations, indeed!
It should be mentioned – without diminishing Zang’s accomplishment – that he has been helped along a good deal by an out-of-sorts Mark Williams, by a tired O’Sullivan, and a Tom Ford nowhere near his best.
Things aren’t going to get any easier. Not only has everyone by now analyzed his game, and will be after his scalp, but vastly increased attention by the (a-social) media will take even bigger bites out of Zang’s time and energy. So, getting from the sugar high of a tournament win back to the taxing hours at the practice table and the daunting task of steadily improving his game from an already high standard, will probably be harder than anything Zang has done so far. And that’s before dealing with increased pressure and improving consistency during tournaments is even mentioned among the daunting tasks ahead.
So, good luck for all that. On Wednesday the first test awaits, and everyone is looking. For now, we get to bag in the joyous sight of a maiden tournament win, rare as that is. Next we’re going to see whether we got a champion, or a mere one-hit wonder.
Well you say “vastly increased attention”, I doubt whether anyone will even interview him when he gets back to the UK! I agree slightly that he will find it quite hard to live up to the status of World No.13, but frankly some of those heralded top-16 players can barely win a match themselves at the moment. On the other hand, Zhang will probably feel a huge weight removed from his shoulders, and he will be able to buy a house for his family. But please don’t underestimate the immense difficulties he has had to overcome to reach this point in his career. It’s obviously hard to top the success he had this week, but it would be disingenuous to suggest that it was a flash-in-the-pan.
He will arrive in Sheffield tomorrow (there’s no time to visit home in Shaoguan), and then play a best-of-7 match on Wednesday. I don’t think you can read very much into what will happen in that match. On the other hand, it is a very real test for Ronnie O’Sullivan: if he doesn’t show some improvement, there will be questions about his future.
Rest assured, I have long been thinking about the difficulties arising for foreign players in the UK, particularly since the match-fixing catastrophe. What lies ahead for Zang is different, but, I am convinced, just as hard, if not more so. A house for his family is certainly nice, but the task ahead remains monumental. Maybe there is nothing to it, but Zang somehow reminds me of Jordan Brown. It’s hard to tell what he went through. Soon-to-be 32 years old Zang, I hope, will live up to his promise.
Nowhere did I suggest that Zang is a flash in the pan – not least because that remains to be seen. And yes, I think the shape in which the players alight at the table on Wednesday will be telling. But then, maybe not. We’ll see.
The questions about O’Sullivan’s future are here to stay, as are those about quite a few others. It’s just the nature of things.
Ronnie must have found his new bogeyman, but he and nobody will be very much aggravated by the result of a best of 7. Personally I would prefer winning the UK, like someone said, starting at 32, it’s a lot fewer matches than usually (I totally believe he gets tired by QFs), in any case of course I’d rather see him focus on (preferably win) a ranking event than another lucrative invitational. But then it does not really matter what I prefer. 🙂
I am pretty sure O’Sullivan doesn’t like losing, and not very certain the format makes much of a difference.
Whether he wins or loses isn’t much of a concern to me. Rather it’s how recent experiences shape how we go about dealing with the next. Like, say, falling off a horse shapes how we approach the next ride. So, will O’Sullivan go about doing his job with renewed vigor, or rather be dejected, moody, and annoyed. And will Zhang rather be more confident, over-confident, or fall back to his form at the start of the season, that is, not someone easily recognizable as a prospective ranking event winner. That sort of thing… It should tell us how folks process success, or deal with the lack thereof.
Anyway, I’d prefer a Zhang-Wakelin match on Wednesday. Not that I think it matters.