Ding Junhui delighted his home town crowd by winning a tense Jiangsu Classic final against Mark Selby 6-5 in Wuxi.
Ding delights crowd in new tournament
Ding Junhui delighted his home town crowd by winning a tense Jiangsu Classic final against Mark Selby 6-5 in Wuxi.
After booking his place in the final, Ding ensured he would play for the title in front of an expectant home crowd in Wuxi, and they were not disappointed with a thrilling final.
Ding was nervous in the lengthy opening frame, which took 30 minutes to complete and ended with the local hero missing the final red enabling Selby to draw first blood.
Ding levelled by taking the second in similar fashion, and the Chinese star hit the first half century break as they shared the next two to make the score 2-2.
The 21-year-old got his nose in front for the first time with a second fifty break after the interval and he continued his run of form to make it 5-2 with a run of 70 and move within a frame of the title.
Masters and Welsh Open champion Selby then found his best form and hit back to take three frames on the bounce to force a decider - thanks to breaks of 64, 85 and 74.
Final frame
The 'Jester from Leicester' was unable to have the last laugh though and it was Ding who raised himself again to take the final frame, and the title, with a tense 6-5 success.
"I'd just like to say that it was my good luck to win and in my home town makes it very special," said Ding.
"I won in the end and I'm very glad to be here. I'd like to thank the title sponsors and to meet all the top players in the world.
"This is the first time my home town has hosted such a top event, so I hope that through this win snooker will be more popular in Wuxi."
Despite his obvious disappointment at coming back so strongly but just missing out, Selby said that the new tournament was a complete success.
The inaugural World Snooker Jiangsu Classic seems to have passed with flying colours and Selby is adamant he wants to return next year.
"I'm sure I speak for all the players when I say I'd like to thank the title sponsors and everyone involved with the tournament and hopefully I can get to the final next year," he said.
