Mark Selby thrashes China’s Ding Junhui to romp to International Championship snooker title in Daqing
Englishman extends his standing in world No 1 spot as he claims another final victory over out-of-sorts Chinese
World number one Mark Selby dismissed the challenge of Chinese ace Ding Junhui 10-1 to easily claim the International Championship title in Daqing, Heilongjiang province on Sunday.
The two have been regular finalists in recent months and the Leicester native repeated the same outcome as he did over the Chinese in the World Championship final at the Crucible Theatre in May.
In control throughout the match, Selby whipped off breaks of 83 and 87 on his way to the win.
REACTION @markjesterselby after beating Ding to win the 2016 #InternationalChampionship, his 9th ranking title and 2nd this season! pic.twitter.com/ZWFovzbTHc— World Snooker (@WorldSnooker1) October 30, 2016
“Ding is a fantastic player but he didn’t really play his game today,” said Selby. “That was down to me playing some good match snooker and not giving him many chances. I didn’t miss anything easy and I was happy with the way I stayed focused and closed the match out. I’m really happy to get another ranking title under my belt.
Ding had looked like he might get himself back into the match when he secured the fourth frame to make it 3-1. But it was to be a false dawn for the 29-year-old as Selby quickly regained the momentum and maintained it to the conclusion.
It was a tough night for Ding, who struggled to find his best form and was limited to a maximum break of just 47 in the match.
The 33-year-old Selby pocketed a cool HK$1.18 million for the win and cemented his place atop the world rankings.
Ding, who claimed HK$614,000 for this runner-up finish, defeated Selby in the final of the Shanghai Masters 10-6 last month.