Xiao Guodong held off a fightback from compatriot Si Jiahui to win the final of the Wuhan Open 10-7 and land his first ranking title after 17 years as a professional.
In only the third final between two players from mainland China, Xiao – who knocked out reigning world champion Kyren Wilson earlier in the tournament – built on a solid start to forge a 6-3 lead during Saturday’s opening session.
After Xiao won the first two frames of the match, world number 13 Si – who had made a maiden 147 break as he outclassed world number one Judd Trump in the semi-finals – got on the board with a run of 109.
Following the mid-session interval, Xiao edged a close fifth frame, winning 54-52 on the black after almost an hour, before then finishing up with breaks of 129 and 73 to take control of the best-of-19 final.
Having extended his lead in the evening up to 9-4 on the back of breaks of 113 and 77 to leave himself one away, Si dug in to cut the deficit after reeling off three straight frames, which included a fine 131.
Xiao, though, finally got over the winning line in the 17th frame, taking it 78-46 to take the winner’s cheque of £140,000.
It was the 35-year-old’s first ranking title since turning professional in 2007 and also pushes Xiao up towards the world’s top 16.
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