Mark Selby beat Noppon Saengkham by 10-6 in the final of the China Open in Taiyuan today to become China Open Champion for the fourth time, a record.
Congratulations Mark Selby!
Here is the report shared by WST:
Selby Too Strong For Saengkham In China Final
Mark Selby won his first ranking title of 2026, and 26th of his career overall, as he came from 4-2 down to beat Noppon Saengkham 10-6 in the final of the China Open in Taiyuan.
Underdog Saengkham looked the stronger player in the early stages but crucially missed chances to take a first session lead, and Selby grew in stature as the day progressed. The 43-year-old from Leicester becomes the first player to win the China Open on four occasions and has now won a record eight ranking titles in China.
Banking a top prize of £250,000, Selby earns his first ranking title since the UK Championship last December and now lies in seventh place on the all-time list, level with Neil Robertson.
Most ranking titles
Ronnie O’Sullivan 41
Stephen Hendry 36
John Higgins 33
Judd Trump 31
Steve Davis 28
Mark Williams 27
Mark Selby 26
Neil Robertson 26Selby jumps from ninth to fifth in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings and could even climb to the number one position if he goes on to win the Wuhan Open later this month.
It’s a fantastic start to the season for Selby, who suffered a loss of form in the early part of 2026, culminating in a World Championship second round defeat in a scrappy affair against Wu Yize. The cue he had used for 20 years had seen its better days and the tip size had whittled down to 8.5mm. Over the summer, he decided to take the gamble of having a new cue made, with an increased tip diameter of 9.2mm. While he insists that he is still coming to terms with the switch, it has already paid dividends. Throughout the week in the Shanxi province he looked in control of his game and was rarely in danger of defeat, conceding just 13 frames in five matches.
Popular Saengkham was nicknamed the Dark Horse by Chinese fans as he enjoyed the best week of his career, knocking out Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Shaun Murphy and Zhou Yuelong to reach the final. The 34-year-old Thai couldn’t build on an early advantage today, but the £100,000 cheque is the biggest of his life and boosts him 18 places to a ranking of 27th. It’s his second defeat in a ranking final having lost to Gary Wilson at the 2023 Scottish Open.
Tied at 4-4 after the first session, Selby took the opening frame tonight with a break of 58. In the next he trailed 37-1 when he crashed in a long red and cleared with 90 to go two clear for the first time at 6-4, and he soon extended that advantage with a run of 69 in frame 11. Selby trailed 29-6 in a fragmented 12th, but when his opponent missed a long red he took the opportunity to construct an excellent 52 to lead 8-4 at the interval.
Having lost six frames in a row, Saengkham ended that sequence with a break of 71, and he had a golden chance to close the gap again in the crucial 14th but on 68, leading by 36 points, he missed the last red to a top corner. Selby laid two excellent snookers, the first to gain the penalty points he needed and the second to create the opening to clear for 9-5.
Saengkham continued to battle and a break of 61 pulled one back, then he had two early chances in the next but could muster only 27 points. A tactical exchange ended when Selby clipped in a superb pot on a red to centre, setting up a match-winning 57.
I have not much to add really. I watched the match “in chunks” … as the stream was regularly interrupted when my Internet stopped working, then rebooted 1… until the next interruption. This was extremely frustrating but I persisted. At least I could see the last balls being played … but not the trophy ceremony 🏆.
Noppon will be disappointed, of course, but he should be proud of what he achieved over the week.
Mind you, he played in this event as a qualifier and “only” beat three former World Champions in Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Shaun Murphy on his way to the title match.
Very well done Noppon, your time will come!
- I have no idea why this happens but it’s been that way for about a week now. Maybe the island’s infrastructures aren’t strong enough when about 100000 tourists are added to the 15000 “locals”. Anyway… I will contact my Internet provider when the big “Marial” holiday is over. ↩︎