Ding Junhui scores impressive win over world champion Mark Selby to claim second Shanghai Masters title
The Chinese number one defeats Selby to become the first player to win the Shanghai Masters title twice with a superb 10-6 win in the final
Chinese number one Ding Junhui defeated world champion Mark Selby to become the first player to win the Shanghai Masters title twice with a superb 10-6 win in the final.
It was a measure of revenge for the Chinese who lost out 18-14 in the final of last year’s World Championships to England’s Selby.
Ding was trailing at 1-3 but fought back with a series of sizable breaks to take a 6-3 lead at the interval.
Selby hit back after the interval with big breaks of his own including runs of 72, 102 and 53 to level the match at 6-6.
Watch: Ding Junhui defeats Mark Selby in the final of the Shanghai Masters
But Ding pulled clear again taking control of the match with breaks of 97 and 63 on his way to the title
“I feel like I’m back to where I was in 2013. It’s special to win back to back tournaments,” said Ding who also secured victory last time out at the Six Red World Championship.
“I felt so strong in the last frame. Mark was coming back at me and he is so strong in safety so he was trying to get snookers. He made every shot so difficult for me, I was just trying to hit the red, that’s it.
The victory lifts the 29-year-old Ding to number six in the world rankings and confirms his fine start to the new season.