Chris Wakelin booked his place in the final of the 2024 International Championship with a 9-8 victory over Xiao Guodong in today’s semi-final . Here is the report by WST:

WAKELIN BEATS XIAO IN NANJING THRILLER

Chris Wakelin guaranteed his biggest career pay day and a place among the world’s top 16 with a dramatic 9-8 victory over Xiao Guodong in the semi-finals of the International Championship.

Nuneaton’s 32-year-old Wakelin missed opportunities to win from 8-5 to 8-8, but then made a superb break in the deciding frame to set up a final against Ding Junhui or Xu Si on Sunday in Nanjing.

It’s a huge breakthrough for the former Asda delivery driver as he is now sure of £75,000 which will lift him into the top 16 of the world rankings for the first time in his career. He will be a seeded player for the UK Championship in York later this month, at the expense of Crucible finalist Jak Jones who will now face the qualifying rounds. Wakelin is also on target for a Johnstone’s Paint Masters debut in January.

He is through to the third ranking event final of his career, having reached two last year. He won his first title at the 2023 Shoot Out and finished runner-up to Judd Trump at the Northern Ireland Open. Victory on Sunday would give him a coveted title as well as a massive £175,000.

Wakelin led 5-3 after the first session and soon extended that to 7-3 with breaks of 63 and 119. Xiao, who won his first ranking title at the Wuhan Open last month, pulled one back with a 69, and in frame 12 he trailed 64-47 when he trapped his opponent in a tough snooker on the final yellow, and from the chance that followed he cleared the table to close to 7-5. Wakelin took the next with a run of 52 and had a scoring chance in frame 14 but made just 11 before missing the blue to a top corner, and his opponent punished him for 8-6.

A break of 90 from Xiao saw him draw within one. In frame 16, Wakelin was among the balls on a run of 14 when he missed the blue to centre. He later trailed 53-33 when he narrowly failed to convert a long pot on the last red, leaving it in the jaws for Xiao to make it 8-8. In the decider, Xiao had an early opportunity but, on 15, left position awkward then missed a difficult yellow with the rest. Wakelin regained his composure and made a match-winning 67. 

“I’ve worked my entire life at this game for moments like this,” said an emotional Wakelin. “From 8-5 I threw it away. I made ridiculously easy mistakes. In the decider I knew it was now or never, I had to forget about what had happened. I’m so relieved to have a day off tomorrow because I’m done in! That was the hardest match of my life. In the first ten years of my career, so many times I put myself in winning situations in matches but didn’t take those chances. This was my final because getting into the top 16 was the goal. But now the shackles are off and I know I have performances like that in me.” 

Wakelin and girlfriend Lucy are expecting their first child in February and have also bought their first house. He added: “I am very blessed that Lucy came into my life. She is incredible and gives me so much belief and freedom. This is the most incredible time of our lives. It feels like I’m living in a dream world. When we found out about the baby, my mum asked me if this was going to put more pressure on me, but I said no, this is what I need, it’s motivation to push myself to the next level. Now is the time to drive home what I have worked on for 25 years. Hopefully the final here will be another step on the journey towards being a really top player.” 

 Xiao said: “I fell too far behind at the start and didn’t perform particularly well. My opponent had me under pressure throughout the match, I couldn’t find my rhythm. I want to apologise to Ding and Xu for not making it to an all-Chinese final! I hope they can keep the title here in China. This is the best time ever for Chinese snooker and I hope the young players can gain experience and keep improving.

“I’ve reached the top 16 in the world rankings, fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming a top player. I hope to stay steady there and deliver more exciting matches in the future.“

Here is the decider

And the postmatch interview … well worth watching because simply reading Chris quotes doesn’t allow us to understand the full extend and power of his emotions after the match.

Chris has struggled with mental health issues in the past, he’s not given up, he found ways to get over his issues, notably he took on ballroom dancing … He’s come a long way.

Congratulations Chris !

There is so much focus on the top players that we fail to understand or forget how much courage and resilience players like Chris show, match after match, event after event, away from the limelights. They devote their lives to their sport often without proper recognition from the fans and yet the sport wouldn’t exist without them.

On Sunday, Chris will meet either Ding Junhui or Xu Si in the Final.

Ding’s last 15 reds snooker title is the 2019 UK Championship… five years ago. That feels unreal really for a player of his quality. As for Xu Si, he’s been a pro since 2017/18. That season he reached the SFs at the 2017 Indian Open but until the 2024 Xi’an Grand Prix last August, had never gone past round 3 in any event after that early breakthrough. The semi-final at the 2017 Indian Open was best of 7, hardly comparable to what awaits him tomorrow. Ding has to be a heavy favourite to reach the final but … one never knows. Xu might feel pressure because of the circumstances and who he faces, or he might play with total freedom because not many, if any, are expecting him to beat Ding.

Whoever wins the title on Sunday … it will be a great story.