Well, a bit of a basic headline but it is a damn important one!
Liang Wenbo won a thrilling, attacking encounter to get his hands on the Steve Davis Trophy, beating friend and former training partner Judd Trump 9-6 in the English Open.
Liang built on his stunning semi-final clash over Stuart Bingham (5 half-centuries and 2 centuries), by bashing in 4 more half-centuries to lead at the interval 5-3 over Judd Trump. It was almost the case of déjà vu when Judd Trump was behind 5-3 at the first session interval and again at 8-6 – exactly the same as his battle against Ronnie O’Sullivan in Bucharest only last week. Even though Judd piled on the pressure, it was the 29-year-old who refused to let lightning strike twice with a fantastic clearance of 39 to clinch his first ranking title, accompanied by overly dramatic roars and celebrations. Both players played extremely well, but Liang was just too good in this final instead of Judd playing under par.
I must admit, I thought Liang come into the final in better form than Judd. Liang had more rest than the Ace in the Pack. While Judd struggled against Ken Doherty and amateur Jamie Bodle, Liang whitewashed Graeme Dott in the opening round and beat Ben Woollaston, Shaun Murphy and Bingham in deciding frames. Judd always mentioned that the Chinese Sensation was the best practice player he has ever played with, but due to his animated nature, he chokes and loses his cool too easily. Ronnie mentioned he sought advice from him about the mental aspect of snooker and it seemed to have paid dividends.
Judd will come back – if he was offered winning one title and runners-up the next he would happily take it. The only disappointment for me is that Laing’s celebrations just doesn’t match his one after winning the UK Championship semis against David Grace. For god’s sake, this was mellow by his standards, even if he was jumping up and down like a kangaroo on caffeine or when an Apprentice candidate does something right.
Now, for some stats and info. This, of course, means that Liang Wenbo books his place in the Champion of Champions, drawing against Mark Selby in the first round and he moves into the Top16. He is now the second first-time winner this season after Indian Open winner Anthony McGill and I reckon there could be more, with Michael Holt, Luca Brecel and Ryan Day getting closer and closer to their first ranking title. He is also the fourth Asian player to win a ranking title, behind James Wattana, Ding Junhui and Marco Fu.
The next tournament is the International Championship, which starts in China next Sunday, with at the Last 64 players chasing the £125,000 cash prize. Until that starts, I shall be tap dancing, playing hockey and going up to Leicester for a birthday do.
This season is turning out to be a very interesting one indeed…
