Defending world snooker champion Mark Selby defeated 29 year old Mark Wilson in The China Open final.
Selby who has suffered a few early exits in tournaments of late such as the Masters and the UK championship, beat his fellow Englishmen 10-2 in the final. Wilson who is indeed a text driver picked up a very respectable cheque of £35,000 – so the 29 year old can be very happy with his week’s work in China.
Home favourite Ding JungHui who won the title last year, was not doubt looking to reign supreme in front of his own fans. As has been the case with other tournaments across the globe, there has been a story of a player who has surprised the odds and gone far – in this tournament it was Gary Wilson of course, who actually defeated home favourite and the defending champion in a final frame thriller.
Winner of last months Indian Open Michael White was no doubt looking to make a mark in Asia again – but sadly the Englishmen’s challenge ended in the third round by Robert Milkins.
The China open which like the Indian Open will be looking to use this tournament as a springboard to promote the sport, saw entrants of the highest calibre such as Judd Trump and John Higgins – but the semi final appearance of Norwegian Kurt Maflin was surely one of the highlights of the event.
In a tournament that did produce some surprises, maybe it was a bit disappointing for the final itself to be so one sided – but I don’t think Mark Selby will worry about that to much as he gets his Crucible defence underway at the end of the April.
