Selby's New Cue, Old Magic: Leicester Potter Claims 26th Ranking Title at China Open
Mark Selby Wins China Open for a Record Fourth Time
Mark Selby is back — and he's made a statement. The Leicester Potter came from 4-2 down to defeat Noppon Saengkham 10-6 in the final of the China Open in Taiyuan on Monday, banking a £250,000 top prize and claiming his 26th ranking title overall. It's his first ranking crown since the UK Championship last December, and the manner of the victory — controlled, grinding, utterly Selby — suggests the 43-year-old has well and truly rediscovered his best form heading into the new season.
A Record-Breaker in Taiyuan
The numbers are extraordinary. Selby becomes the first player in history to win the China Open four times, and this result pushes his tally to a record eight ranking titles won on Chinese soil. Throughout the week in Shanxi province he was rarely threatened, dropping just 13 frames across his five matches. In the final itself, the early signs weren't entirely promising — Saengkham looked sharp in the opening session and had his chances to pull clear — but crucially the Thai left-hander couldn't convert when it mattered, and Selby, being Selby, made him pay.
The decisive swing came in the second session. Tied at 4-4 overnight, Selby opened the evening with a break of 58 to edge in front, then produced one of the moments of the match when he trailed 37-1 in frame ten. Most players might have tightened up. Selby crashed in a long red and rattled off 90 to suddenly lead 6-4. A run of 69 in frame eleven extended the cushion further, and even when things got scrappy in the 12th — he trailed 29-6 at one stage — he pounced on a missed long red from Saengkham to make 52 and go 8-4 ahead at the interval.
Saengkham showed character to win the 13th with a break of 71 and then had a golden opportunity in the 14th to make it 8-6. Leading by 36 points with just one red remaining, he missed it to a top corner — a miss that will haunt him. Selby, ice-cold as ever, laid two snookers and that, in effect, was that. The match was won, the title was secured, and the crowd in Taiyuan had witnessed history.
The New Cue That Changed Everything
Context matters here. Selby had a difficult start to 2026, suffering an early exit at the World Championship at the hands of Wu Yize in what he himself described as a scrappy affair. The root cause, it has emerged, was partly physical — the cue he had used for two decades had seen better days, with the tip diameter worn down to just 8.5mm. Over the summer he took a significant gamble: commissioning a brand new cue with a 9.2mm tip.
For any snooker player, changing a cue is a deeply unsettling experience, and for someone like Selby — methodical, precise, deeply reliant on feel — it carried real risk. He has been open about the fact he's still adjusting to it. But the results this week suggest the adjustment is going rather well. If this is Selby not quite at home with his new tool, the rest of the tour might want to brace themselves for when he is.
What This Means for the Rankings — and for Your Betting
The prize money and ranking points from Taiyuan have propelled Selby from ninth to fifth in the Johnstone's Paint World Rankings. More intriguingly, he now has the Wuhan Open later this month — and a victory there could theoretically push him all the way to number one in the world. At 26 ranking titles, he sits joint-seventh on the all-time list alongside Neil Robertson, with Mark Williams (27) next in his sights.
For those of us who bet on snooker, Selby's resurgence is a significant market factor. He had drifted considerably during his difficult early-season run, and any punter who took a position on him for the China Open at generous odds will be very pleased with themselves this morning. Going into Wuhan, expect his prices to tighten sharply — but given the form he's carrying and the evident confidence the new cue is beginning to give him, he may still represent value even at shorter odds. Watch the match betting markets carefully when the draw is made.
Saengkham's Brilliant Week
It would be wrong to let this piece close without proper credit to Noppon Saengkham. The 34-year-old Thai — dubbed the Dark Horse by the Chinese fans in Taiyuan — had the week of his career en route to the final, defeating Judd Trump, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy and Zhou Yuelong. The £100,000 runner-up cheque is the largest of his career and lifts him 18 places to a ranking of 27th. It's his second ranking final appearance, having lost to Gary Wilson at the 2023 Scottish Open. He'll have days when he's grateful the day that cost him a title taught him exactly what's needed to win one.
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