The 21-year-old from China, who was taking part in a third consecutive World Women’s Snooker Championship final, becomes only the seventh player to lift the Mandy Fisher Trophy on multiple occasions and is the first to defend her title since Ng On Yee achieved the feat in 2018.
The two pre-tournament top seeds met in a repeat of last year’s final in a best-of-11 frame title match contest that was watched by a large crowd at the Changping Gymnasium.
The first two frames of the final were shared between the two cueists, who were each aiming to lift the most prestigious title on the World Women’s Snooker Tour for the second time in their careers.
Mink, the 2022 champion who was competing in her fourth final, managed to pull ahead as she secured a 4-2 advantage with a top break of 54.
Local favourite Bai refused to go down without a fight, however, and rallied with back-to-back frames to restore parity, before going ahead for the first time in the match by taking frame nine with a contribution of 61 to move one away from victory at 5-4.
What ultimately turned out to be the final frame of the match was one that was full of drama as it came down to the last few balls and both players spurned opportunities to win it.
There were gasps from the crowd as Bai missed the ball altogether when attempting a thin pink across the length of the table for victory, only for Mink to go in-off after potting it and looking likely to force a dramatic decider.
After taking a second to compose herself, the Chinese player fired home the pink from distance to complete a momentous victory.
Quality wise, it wasn’t a great match but we shouldn’t be too surprised. Both players wanted it badly and they were certainly feeling very tense. The match was showed on YouTube and at one point there were over 47500 persons watching it (me included 😉). There IS an interest for the women’s game, clearly.
Lewis was in the arena and wrote on social media that, to his estimations, about 700 fans were watching at the venue. Not bad!
Yes, objectively the match was poor. Both players showed some great quality, but there were too many bad mistakes. Bai Yulu has not been at her best for about 18 months, apart from her run in the UK Championship, but that’s understandable seeing how much her life has changed. It’s very difficult to defend a world title, as “the Crucible Curse” has shown, and there was a lot of expectation here.
I think it must be quite difficult for the likes of Bai Yulu and Mink Nutcharut to adjust to and from playing in women’s tournaments and the WST. It’s a very different type of snooker, played in different conditions and with different expectations. That will come with experience.
I was also quite encouraged by Panchaya Channoi and Liu Zi Ling in the U21. They are both attacking players who can potentially balls. The really big problem with the women’s game is a lack of depth, but it looks like there are some talented teenagers from Thailand and China who could improve to help address that. There was a huge Thai contingent, probably here for training opportunities alongside the events themselves. Some were very poor, but still young.
I stayed throughout the 45-minute closing ceremony. Mandy Fisher made a speech outlining plans for ‘a new stadium’ in Dongguan, possibly linked with an enlarged academy (the academy in Changping is surprisingly low-key, in a backstreet). There is currently a 3-year deal, with options to extend.
Whilst the event last year was an incredible breakthrough, this event clearly continues the progress of the women’s game. Hopefully next year, more players will be able to travel from Europe. Last year the tickets were free and the tournament ended on a Sunday. This year, it cost CNY58 per day (around £6) and strangely finished on a Tuesday. That affected attendances, particularly the semi-finals. It would have been a major coup if they could have topped 1000 (more than the Crucible), but it’s still a learning process for the organisers.
I certainly expected a better quality: it was after all a match between to pros and as they both have one more year on the Tour, the stakes were not that high. But these young Asian girls still make the women’s game more interesting to watch. They certainly have some intensity.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Judd v Jack night 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR4Uj6tzxG0&list=PL4eCBmO3bSTkd5YdcPJUSkQPK23nrsRHA&ab_channel=TihomirPetkov .
Yes, objectively the match was poor. Both players showed some great quality, but there were too many bad mistakes. Bai Yulu has not been at her best for about 18 months, apart from her run in the UK Championship, but that’s understandable seeing how much her life has changed. It’s very difficult to defend a world title, as “the Crucible Curse” has shown, and there was a lot of expectation here.
I think it must be quite difficult for the likes of Bai Yulu and Mink Nutcharut to adjust to and from playing in women’s tournaments and the WST. It’s a very different type of snooker, played in different conditions and with different expectations. That will come with experience.
I was also quite encouraged by Panchaya Channoi and Liu Zi Ling in the U21. They are both attacking players who can potentially balls. The really big problem with the women’s game is a lack of depth, but it looks like there are some talented teenagers from Thailand and China who could improve to help address that. There was a huge Thai contingent, probably here for training opportunities alongside the events themselves. Some were very poor, but still young.
I stayed throughout the 45-minute closing ceremony. Mandy Fisher made a speech outlining plans for ‘a new stadium’ in Dongguan, possibly linked with an enlarged academy (the academy in Changping is surprisingly low-key, in a backstreet). There is currently a 3-year deal, with options to extend.
Whilst the event last year was an incredible breakthrough, this event clearly continues the progress of the women’s game. Hopefully next year, more players will be able to travel from Europe. Last year the tickets were free and the tournament ended on a Sunday. This year, it cost CNY58 per day (around £6) and strangely finished on a Tuesday. That affected attendances, particularly the semi-finals. It would have been a major coup if they could have topped 1000 (more than the Crucible), but it’s still a learning process for the organisers.
I certainly expected a better quality: it was after all a match between to pros and as they both have one more year on the Tour, the stakes were not that high. But these young Asian girls still make the women’s game more interesting to watch. They certainly have some intensity.