Tomorrow’s final at the 2026 China Open will be competed between Mark Selby and Noppon Saengkham. As of today, Mark has competed in 38 ranking finals, winning 25 of them. Noppon, on the other hand, has reached a ranking final only once before, at the 2023 Scottish Open, where he lost by 9-5 against Gary Wilson. The difference in experience between them is huge … a chasm actually. Needless to say, Mark is a huge favourite. But Noppon has shown so much heart and determination this week … Noppon you can do this!
Anyway … here are the reports by WST on the semi-finals
Noppon Saengkham made a magnificent total clearance in the deciding frame as he moved closer to a first ranking title by beating Zhou Yuelong 6-5 in the semi-finals of the China Open.
Thailand’s 34-year-old Saengkham is enjoying the best week of a pro career which started in 2010 as he knocked out all-time greats Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Shaun Murphy then kept his run going today by edging out China’s Zhou in a fierce battle. With the help of coach Peter Ebdon, Saengkham has found new belief and confidence, and his attacking style has paid dividends.
The world number 45 will face the biggest match of his life on Sunday when he takes on Mark Selby or Stuart Bingham, with first to ten frames to lift the trophy and bank the £250,000 top prize. Saengkham has reached just one ranking final before, at the 2023 Scottish Open when he was runner-up to Gary Wilson. He is already sure of £100,000, by far his biggest pay-day, and will leap 18 places to 27th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings if he loses the final, and could go as high as 17th if he wins.
Saengkham started strongly with breaks of 44 and 43 to take the opening frame, then compiled a run of 86 for 2-0. Zhou fought back by taking the third with breaks of 49 and 56, then he got the better of a scrappy fourth for 2-2. Frame five came down to a battle on the last red and Zhou was unlucky to go in-off into a centre pocket attempting safety, handing his opponent the chance to convert the red from distance and clear to regain the lead. In the sixth, Zhou led 51-8 when he under-cut a tricky red to a top corner, playing with the long rest, and again Saengkham punished him with a 56 clearance for 4-2.
A fragmented seventh went Zhou’s way, then in frame eight Saengkham trailed 26-19 when he knocked in a long red to set up a break of 56 for 5-3. A run of 99 from Zhou halved his deficit, then Saengkham had a match-winning chance in the tenth but ran out of position on 32 and had to watch his opponent make 74 for 5-5. Early in the decider, Saengkham stroked in a superb long red, then crashed into the pack off the black to open up the reds, and never looked out of position in a fantastic break of 134.
“Last night I couldn’t sleep, I went to sleep at 6am and woke up at 10am. I was thinking about everything,” said Saengkham, who won the world under-21 title in 2009. “At 5-5 I still believed I could do it, I just wanted one chance. From 5-3 I didn’t make many mistakes. I told myself that if I had one chance I had to go for it. You need a big heart if you want to win big.
“This is one of the biggest tournaments and it’s my first time to earn £100,000, or even £250,000 – it’s very big for me. Maybe it will buy a house in the UK. Hopefully tomorrow can be my day, it’s a big dream for me. I will need to make a good start because I will be nervous, I will have to control myself. If I play Mark Selby it’s a dream because he is my hero. But Stuart Bingham would also not be an easy game.“
Zhou, who is left waiting for a first ranking title, said: “I didn’t play particularly well at the start, and there were a lot of mistakes from both of us. When you keep making mistakes, it’s difficult to find your rhythm and really get into the match. He produced a century break at the end, which was not easy, and I hope he can go on to achieve a good result. Overall, he has performed extremely well in this tournament, and beating world champions one after another has given him a lot of confidence. These days, any player in the world’s top 32 is capable of beating anyone, it just depends on how consistent you are during the tournament.
“The form and level of all the Chinese players is very high at the moment, and everyone is competitive. It’s a little disappointing that there won’t be a Chinese player in the final this time, but everyone is improving and we can look forward to seeing how they perform in the upcoming events. When I was behind in this match, I didn’t panic. I never gave up and kept trying to play every shot as well as I could. That was important for me.“
Mark Selby reached his first ranking final in China for eight years as he beat Stuart Bingham 6-2 to set up a clash with Noppon Saengkham at the China Open in Taiyuan.
Selby is on the brink of becoming the first player to win the China Open on four occasions as he previously lifted the trophy in 2015, 2017 and 2018 and is currently tied with Mark Williams on three titles apiece. On Sunday he’ll take on underdog Saengkham, the world number 45, over a possible 19 frames with the silverware and £250,000 top prize at stake. The contrast in experience is underlined by the fact that Saengkham will be aiming for a first ranking title while Selby will be looking for a 26th, which would bring him level with Neil Robertson in seventh place on the all-time list.
Showing signs of the form which won him four world titles in his prime years between 2014 and 2021, Selby has conceded just seven frames in four matches this week to reach the final. The 43-year-old Englishman remains on target for a first ranking title since the UK Championship last December and he’s into a 39th ranking final – his first in the Far East since winning the 2018 China Championship.
Currently ranked ninth, Selby will move up to seventh if he loses the final and fifth if he wins, while victory would also bring him into the race for the world number one spot after the Wuhan Open.
Selby took the opening frame with breaks of 41 and 34 before Bingham levelled with a 130 – doubling his tally of centuries for the tournament. A run of 74 saw Selby regain the lead and he had a scoring chance in the next but ran out of position on 14 and Bingham took it with 36 and 42 for 2-2.
After the interval, Selby regained the lead with a 102, his fourth century of the tournament, then in frame six Bingham trailed 46-22 when he went for a risky plant on a red to corner and missed the target, gifting his opponent the chance to go 4-2 ahead. Selby got the better of a fragmented seventh frame to extend his advantage, and clinched the result on the next with a break of 72.
“I played ok tonight, not as good as yesterday but I didn’t do a lot wrong,” said Selby. “Stuart looked good up until 2-2, then after that the bits of run didn’t go his way. I seem to be punishing my opponent’s mistakes and you need to do that to compete for tournaments. I have hit the ball well and felt good on the practice table all week, and trusted myself out there.
“Noppon is in the final for a reason, he’s playing very well and he’s beaten Judd, Ronnie, Shaun Murphy and Zhou Yuelong. It will be tough. I played him the World Championship in 2020 and beat him 13-12 – he played unbelievably well over three sessions so I am expecting something similar to that. I’ll give it my all as I do in every match. It’s great to be back in a final here in China.“
Bingham, who had hoped to win a first title since the 2020 Masters, said: “I am disappointed but I didn’t take my chances and you have to do that against Mark. I enjoyed it and tried to play with a smile on my face but a few shots here and there didn’t go my way. I’ll take the positives from getting to the semi-finals but I wasn’t good enough tonight.“
I will be in Noppon’s “camp” tomorrow.
I know that some see me as a Selby hater. I DO NOT hate Mark Selby, actually I quite like him, and, above all, I admire him for how much courage he showed in adversity as a very young man, nearly a boy still. His mother left the family, left him behind, when he was only 8 years old. His father died when Mark was only 16. Mark had promised him that he would be a snooker World Champion one day. He kept that promise and more … But the way he played at times, especially in his early career, often made me want to pull my hair off. He was wearing his opponents out … and the watching fans with them too .
I just really like Noppon. I met him at tournaments, always polite, always amiable, always humble and nearly always smiling. If anything Noppon is too humble for his own good.
