China Open 2026 Final Recap: Selby’s Record Title and the Tournament’s Biggest Sensation

The China Open 2026 final has wrapped up in Taiyuan: Mark Selby beat Thai qualifier Noppon Saengkham 10-6 to claim a record fourth title at this tournament. The first session was a tight, even contest that ended level at 4-4, but in the second Selby pulled clearly ahead, despite resistance from an opponent who had spent the week knocking out three former world champions and earning the nickname “Dark Horse” from Chinese fans.

The final 10-6 scoreline gave the Englishman his fourth China Open title — an outright tournament record now held by him alone — and his 26th ranking trophy of his career. For Saengkham, who started the tournament from qualifying, losing the final wasn’t a failure but a breakthrough: the biggest result of his career and a ticket into the world’s top 30.

The Final by the Numbers

How the Final Unfolded: Swings and a Comeback

The first session was closely fought — Saengkham wasn’t afraid to set a tough pace against the favourite and didn’t let him pull away. The board showed a level 4-4 at the interval, and in the immediate aftermath Selby admitted he was happy with that scoreline: the Thai player could easily have been ahead after the first half of the match.

Everything changed in the second session. Selby stepped up to another level, began taking tight, tactical frames one after another and stretched his lead to 8-4. Saengkham narrowed the gap, but every time the score got close, the Englishman found an answer to his opponent’s attempts to catch up.

1. The first session ended level — 4-4.
2. Selby seized the initiative in the second session and pulled clear — 8-4.
3. Saengkham responded and cut the gap to 8-5.
4. Selby’s potting sharpened dramatically — 9-5.
5. The Thai player refused to give up and closed right in — 9-6.
6. In the 16th frame, Selby potted the balls he needed and sealed the final 10-6.

“I am very happy to win this title in China. It was a tough match, and I haven’t played amazing shots in the final, but I think I performed well throughout the tournament.”

— Mark Selby

“Today’s match was very important to my career. I also learned a lot from the experience. I will continue to work hard in training and hope to become a champion in the future.”

— Noppon Saengkham

Mark Selby’s Road to the Final: No Room for Slip-Ups

Selby didn’t just win the tournament — he breezed through it with barely any resistance. Across five matches, the three-time world champion dropped just 13 frames, six of them in the final alone. He reached the quarter-final with a 6-1 scoreline, and in the last 16 he beat Kyren Wilson, compiling a 138 break along the way — his best single break of the tournament.

• A fourth China Open title — Selby previously won this event in 2015, 2017 and 2018, and now holds the tournament record for most titles outright.
• This is already Selby’s 8th ranking title won on Chinese soil — also a record among active players.
• The win lifted Selby from 9th to 5th in the world rankings.

Noppon Saengkham’s Run: The Qualifier Who Beat Three World Champions

Saengkham’s run at this tournament turned out to be a genuine sensation. He started out in the qualifying round in Leicester back in June, then methodically worked his way through the main draw one opponent at a time — and in the closing rounds he began knocking out snooker’s biggest stars. Judd Trump, the reigning world number one, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Shaun Murphy all fell behind the Thai qualifier, who by the semi-final had earned the nickname “Dark Horse” from local fans.

• Over the tournament, Saengkham knocked three former world champions out of the draw — Trump, O’Sullivan and Murphy.
• The final was the second time the Thai player had lost a ranking-event decider: back in 2023 he was beaten in the Scottish Open final by Gary Wilson.
• £100,000 for the runner-up spot — the biggest payday of Saengkham’s career.
• Beating Zhou Yuelong and reaching the final lifted Saengkham 18 places up the world rankings, to No. 27.

Head-to-Head

Selby holds a commanding head-to-head lead of 12-3 in career meetings. However, the two have only played a genuinely long, multi-session match once before: in the second round of the 2020 World Championship in Sheffield, where Saengkham fought him almost to a standstill before losing by the narrowest of margins, 12-13.

A New Cue and a Difficult Start to the Season

The title in China looks especially significant given how the 2025/26 season had gone for Selby up to this point. It was a tough start: he crashed out of the World Championship in the second round, losing to Wu Yize. Selby himself put his dip in form down to the cue he’d used for almost 20 years — its 8.5mm tip had, over time, stopped giving him the stability he needed on his shots.

Over the summer, the champion decided to switch equipment: he had a new cue made with a larger, 9.2mm tip. By his own admission, he’s still getting used to it, but the results already speak for themselves.

“I felt like I’ve probably played some of my best stuff this week… somewhere close to my best. Confidence is everything in this game, and I’ve felt like I’ve had that this week. Just to try and carry on this momentum, take it through to next week in Wuhan — hopefully just carry on playing the same and keep on winning matches. I’ve never once played snooker for the money. I grew up with nothing, so, obviously anything I get is a bonus.”

— Mark Selby

Records and Selby’s Place in Snooker History

His 26th career ranking title moves Selby into 7th place on the all-time list of the most decorated players in snooker history, level with Neil Robertson. It’s also Selby’s first ranking win since December 2025, when he claimed the UK Championship.

• If Selby wins the Wuhan Open, which starts next week, he could return to the top of the world rankings.

Tournament’s Top Breaks

The biggest sensation of the qualifying stage was the first maximum break of Michael Holt’s professional career — a 147, the 242nd officially ratified maximum in snooker history. From the main draw, the standout moments came from two big runs by Mark Selby and Noppon Saengkham’s match-winning break in the semi-final.

What’s Next

Next week Selby heads straight into the Wuhan Open, where he’ll try to build on his good form — a win there could return him to the top of the world rankings for the first time in a long while.

For Saengkham, the main task now is to build on this success: his jump of 18 places to No. 27 in the rankings gives the Thai player a chance to establish himself among the tour’s elite and prove that the China Open wasn’t a one-off flash, but a statement of a new level.

The China Open returned to the calendar for the first time since 2019 — this time in Taiyuan instead of Beijing — and gave fans exactly what you’d want from a major tournament: an unexpected hero from qualifying, fallen favourites, and a seasoned champion who, once again, proved stronger than the circumstances when it mattered most.

About the Author

Luke Stevenson

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Luke Stevenson is the founder and editor-in-chief of snooker.news, a main publication about snooker. He has been writing about snooker since 2020 and has personally attended the World Championship in Crucible, as well as the Masters and UK Championship tournaments. He produces news stories, match analysis, and player profiles; his work has previously been published in sports media.

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