Ding ends five-year wait for 15th ranking title

Ding Junhui ended his five-year wait for a 15th ranking title as he beat Chris Wakelin in the International Championship

Ding Junhui ended his five-year wait for a 15th ranking title as he beat Chris Wakelin 10-7 in the final of the International Championship in his native China.

Ding had not claimed a major ranking trophy since his third UK Championship win in 2019, losing his next three finals.

The 37-year-old won six frames in a row in Nanjing to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 7-4 lead and then held off a gutsy recovery from Englishman Wakelin.

Ding said afterwards to World Snooker: “I didn’t know my family were going to be at the trophy presentation, it was great to see them. My kids hadn’t seen me win anything live before.”

Ding has now jumped up a spot to No 8 in the world rankings, while Wakelin has risen into the top 16 for the first time in his career, sitting 15th after his run in China.

The 32-year-old has, therefore, earned automatic qualification into the UK Championship in York, with the first Triple Crown event of the season running from November 23 to December 1.

Wakelin reeled off four half-centuries in the first five frames to assume full control, only for Ding to hit back, with breaks of 57 and 80 helping him erase the deficit.

A missed red by Wakelin helped Ding fire a further half-century and nudge 5-4 in front at the interval, before breaks of 66 and 63 put him 7-4 up.

Wakelin rallied, though, with visits of 82 and 89 reducing Ding’s advantage to a single frame.

The players shared the next two frames but Ding moved one from victory with a break of 72 before going on to secure the win for his second International Championship crown, 11 years after he pipped Marco Fu 10-9 to earn his first.

Ding’s last title win in his homeland came back in 2017 when he beat Kyren Wilson in the World Open.

Beaten-finalist Wakelin said: “I’ve got very vivid memories of watching snooker as a child and dreaming of being in these sorts of scenarios. As much as it does sometimes feel like a dream world, it also feels incredibly normal.

“I feel like I belong here and that I am capable of coming back and one day lifting this sort of title. As much as today was disappointing, I am really proud of how I handled myself.”