20th August

Mark Selby became the first player to win the China Open four times, beating Noppon Saengkham 10-6 in Sunday's final at the Riverside Sports Centre in Taiyuan. Level at 4-4 after the first session, Selby pulled away in the evening to sweep four frames before the interval, sealing victory with a wonderful double on the final red in the 16th frame.

It was Selby's first ranking title of 2026 and the 26th of his career, earning him £250,000 and moving him up to fifth in the world rankings. "I felt I played some really good stuff all week," Selby said afterwards. Saengkham's runner-up finish still nets him £100,000 and a jump to 27th in the standings.

Ranked just 45th in the world coming into the tournament, Thailand's Noppon Saengkham produced the story of the China Open, knocking out world number one Judd Trump, seven-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, and Crucible finalist Shaun Murphy on his way to a maiden ranking final.

Saengkham took an early 4-2 lead against Selby before the four-time world champion's experience told. A superb 134 clearance in the deciding frame of his semi-final against Zhou Yuelong had already underlined his credentials, and his run is set to be a significant boost to his world ranking heading into the rest of the season.