Selby Claims Fourth China Open Title With 10-6 Win Over Saengkham
Mark Selby won his fourth China Open title in Taiyuan on 16 August 2026, beating Thailand's Noppon Saengkham 10-6 in the final (BBC Sport).
The victory lifted the 43-year-old from ninth to fifth in the world rankings and banked him a £250,000 first prize. Saengkham collected £100,000 as runner-up and climbed 18 places to 27th in the rankings (BBC Sport).
For Selby, a four-time world champion, this was ranking title number 26 — drawing him level with some of the sport's most decorated names. A ranking event is a tournament where prize money counts toward a player's official world standing, as opposed to invitational events.
What makes this run stand out is the equipment. Selby started the season with a new cue for the first time in 20 years (BBC Sport). Two decades with the same instrument is a lifetime in snooker, where the feel of the cue in the hand is everything — a fraction of a degree in alignment can be the difference between a pot landing cleanly in the pocket and rattling the jaw. To switch tools at 43 and immediately win a ranking title tells you Selby's game is built on something deeper than habit.
He reached the final with a 6-2 semi-final win over Stuart Bingham (The Sun), another former world champion, and never looked troubled in the final, closing out the match with the kind of measured break-building — stringing pots together in a single visit to the table — that has defined his career.
Saengkham's path to the final was the story of the tournament. The Thai player beat Judd Trump, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Shaun Murphy in succession to reach only the second ranking final of his career (BBC Sport). Three of the sport's biggest names, dispatched one after another. That he could not find a fourth big win in the final will sting, but the run lifts him back into the top 32 and gives him a platform for the season ahead.
The World Snooker Tour's own match report was headlined "Selby Too Strong For Saengkham In China Final" (WST), and that was the crux of it. Selby ground down the breaks when he needed to and controlled the safety exchanges — the tactical shots played when a clear pot is not available, designed to leave the opponent in trouble rather than score points.
For the casual viewer, the scoreline 10-6 suggests a comfortable afternoon. It was not that simple. A best-of-19 final (first to 10 frames) has its own rhythm, and Saengkham kept firing. But Selby's experience in the long format — honed over four world titles at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, where finals are played over two days and can stretch to 35 frames — told when the frames tightened.
The China Open has been kind to Selby over the years. Four titles at the same tournament is a rare feat, and it places him alongside the event's most successful players. With the new cue bedding in and his ranking back inside the top five, the season ahead looks promising for a player who keeps finding ways to win.
