Zhang Anda captured a maiden ranking title by beating Tom Ford 10-6 in the International Championship on Sunday in Tianjin.
The Chinese cueist produced a terrific performance that included a memorable 147 break early on in the affair.
Zhang compiled the maximum knock in the third frame, for which he’ll take home a share of the ยฃ5,000 high break prize.
However, it’s the ยฃ175,000 champion’s cheque that will surely prove to be career changing for the 31 year-old.
A place in next week’s Champion of Champions is just one of the immediate bonuses that will come with this glory.
Zhang will also join the top 16 in the world rankings for the first time, marking a remarkable rise up the standings during the calendar year of 2023.
Prior to this year, he had never before been ranked among the top 64, but as a member of the elite bracket he will gain automatic qualification to the UK Championship in York later this month.
Debut appearances at the prestigious Masters in January and the Tour Championship towards the end of the campaign also seem likely.
Apart from Zhang’s incredible 147, there wasn’t much to separate the finalists during an opening session in which there was never more than a frame in it.
Ford, who was also bidding for a first ranking crown, led after winning the first frame and then took the front again at 4-3 by pinching the seventh frame on the black.
Zhang, though, compiled breaks of 86 and 101 to establish a narrow 5-4 advantage heading into the evening bout of play.
A contribution of 91 from Ford saw parity restored once more, but it proved to be for the final time.
Breaks of 71, 65, and 108 from Zhang brought him to an 8-5 lead at the last mid-session interval, with the latter ton representing his tenth of the tournament.
To put that into context, the player known as Mighty Mouse compiled just nine century breaks throughout the entirety of the 2022/23 season.
A disgruntled Ford looked as though he was letting his frustrations get the better of him, and Zhang took advantage to move to within the brink of glory.
With his back firmly against the wall, Ford made a break of 55 to finally stop the rot and got in first again in the 16th frame.
At this point, Zhang’s thoughts may have turned to the English Open final a month ago when he squandered a 7-3 lead in a 9-7 reverse against Judd Trump.
Yet when Ford unexpectedly missed while in among the balls, Zhang seized his opportunity and compiled an excellent clearance of 70 to seal the title.
2023 International Championship
Round of 128 (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-0 Wang Xinzhong
Michael White 6-3 Himanshu Jain
Stephen Maguire 6-2 Peng Yisong
Joe O’Connor 6-1 Baipat Siripaporn
Ryan Day 6-1 Mink Nutcharut
Jackson Page 6-3 Liam Graham
Hossein Vafaei 6-1 Reanne Evans
Ross Muir 6-3 Wu Yize
Ben Woollaston 4-6 Wang Xinbo
Dylan Emery 6-3 Joe Perry
David Grace 6-2 Jenson Kendrick
John Higgins 6-1 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Jordan Brown 6-5 Sean O’Sullivan
David Gilbert 6-0 James Cahill
Elliot Slessor 6-2 Hammad Miah
Kyren Wilson 6-3 Adam Duffy
Mark Selby 6-2 Muhammad Asif
Stuart Carrington 6-4 Xi Si
Jimmy Robertson 6-2 Anton Kazakov
Xiao Guodong 6-4 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Marco Fu 6-4 Robert Milkins
Sanderson Lam 6-2 Andy Hicks
Tom Ford 6-4 Stan Moody
Cao Yupeng 6-0 Ashley Hugill
Jamie Jones 6-4 Ashley Carty
Ricky Walden 6-1 Jiang Jun
Tian Pengfei 6-3 Stephen Hendry
Barry Hawkins 6-0 Andrew Pagett
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-1 Andrew Higginson
Matthew Selt 6-1 Jimmy White
Oliver Lines 6-4 Lukas Kleckers
Mark Allen 6-2 Ma Hailong
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-1 Ken Doherty
Mark Joyce 6-3 Andy Lee
Si Jiahui 6-5 Julien Leclercq
Jak Jones 6-2 Aaron Hill
Jack Lisowski 6-3 He Guoqiang
Scott Donaldson 6-4 Louis Heathcote
Anthony McGill 6-3 Alfie Burden
Sam Craigie 6-1 Rory Thor
Matthew Stevens 6-4 Liu Hongyu
Stuart Bingham 6-0 Xing Zihao
John Astley 6-5 Jamie Clarke
Ali Carter 6-2 Allan Taylor
Anthony Hamilton 6-0 Bai Yulu
Zhou Yuelong 6-0 Martin O’Donnell
Daniel Wells 6-2 Liam Highfield
Neil Robertson 6-4 Ryan Thomerson
Shaun Murphy 6-1 Andres Petrov
Dominic Dale 6-3 Oliver Brown
Chris Wakelin 6-0 Dean Young
Lyu Haotian 6-5 David Lilley
Mark Williams 6-0 Rebecca Kenna
Zhang Anda 6-3 Alexander Ursenbacher
Noppon Saengkham 6-3 Victor Sarkis
Liam Pullen 6-4 Graeme Dott
Robbie Williams 6-3 Ben Mertens
Gary Wilson 6-0 Mohamed Ibrahim
Long Zehuang 6-5 Yuan Sijun
Ding Junhui 6-1 Ian Burns
Pang Junxu 6-3 Zak Surety
Fan Zhengyi 6-2 Mostafa Dorgham
Mark Davis 6-4 Rod Lawler
Luca Brecel 6-2 Daniel Womersley
Round of 64 (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-0 Michael White
Stephen Maguire 6-4 Joe O’Connor
Ryan Day 6-5 Jackson Page
Hossein Vafaei 5-6 Ross Muir
Wang Xinbo 4-6 Dylan Emery
David Grace 1-6 John Higgins
Jordan Brown 6-3 David Gilbert
Elliot Slessor 2-6 Kyren Wilson
Mark Selby 6-2 Stuart Carrington
Jimmy Robertson 3-6 Xiao Guodong
Marco Fu 6-0 Sanderson Lam
Tom Ford 6-0 Cao Yupeng
Jamie Jones 3-6 Ricky Walden
Tian Pengfei 0-6 Barry Hawkins
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-5 Matthew Selt
Oliver Lines 3-6 Mark Allen
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-3 Mark Joyce
Si Jiahui 4-6 Jak Jones
Jack Lisowski 6-4 Scott Donaldson
Anthony McGill 6-3 Sam Craigie
Matthew Stevens 5-6 Stuart Bingham
John Astley 5-6 Ali Carter
Anthony Hamilton 0-6 Zhou Yuelong
Daniel Wells 6-1 Neil Robertson
Shaun Murphy 3-6 Dominic Dale
Chris Wakelin 1-6 Lyu Haotian
Mark Williams 3-6 Zhang Anda
Noppon Saengkham 5-6 Liam Pullen
Robbie Williams 4-6 Gary Wilson
Long Zehuang 4-6 Ding Junhui
Pang Junxu 6-5 Fan Zhengyi
Mark Davis 6-3 Luca Brecel
Round of 32 (bo11)
Judd Trump 3-6 Stephen Maguire
Ryan Day 6-1 Ross Muir
Dylan Emery 1-6 John Higgins
Jordan Brown 6-4 Kyren Wilson
Mark Selby 6-2 Xiao Guodong
Marco Fu 3-6 Tom Ford
Ricky Walden 4-6 Barry Hawkins
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-3 Mark Allen
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-4 Jak Jones
Jack Lisowski 2-6 Anthony McGill
Stuart Bingham 4-6 Ali Carter
Zhou Yuelong 1-6 Daniel Wells
Dominic Dale 3-6 Lyu Haotian
Zhang Anda 6-3 Liam Pullen
Gary Wilson 5-6 Ding Junhui
Pang Junxu 6-3 Mark Davis
Round of 16 (bo11)
Stephen Maguire 6-4 Ryan Day
John Higgins 3-6 Jordan Brown
Mark Selby 3-6 Tom Ford
Barry Hawkins 6-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-2 Anthony McGill
Ali Carter 6-1 Daniel Wells
Lyu Haotian 3-6 Zhang Anda
Ding Junhui 6-2 Pang Junxu
Quarter-Finals (bo11)
Stephen Maguire 5-6 Jordan Brown
Tom Ford 6-4 Barry Hawkins
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-4 Ali Carter
Zhang Anda 6-3 Ding Junhui
Semi-Finals (bo17)
Jordan Brown 6-9 Tom Ford
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-9 Zhang Anda
Final (bo19)
Tom Ford 6-10 Zhang Anda
Featured photo credit: WST
Zhang the sixth Chinese and ninth Asian player to win a ranking title. His elevation into a big time winner and top 16 player at this point in his career is so rare. That said, 31 is not as old as it once appeared in snooker. His composure in the balls is a great asset but he has shown this season a great snooker IQ in knowing when is the moment to attack.
153 centuries in this year’s edition, one shy of the record 154 set in 2018.
It is remarkable and a sunshine story. I refereed 2nd part of his semifinal against Daniel Wells in Goa and the IBSF W.Ch ship 2007. He was still only 15, made two tons in that match but was outwitted by Michael Georgiou in the final. I were sure he was a coming super star and regretted not taking his autograph:). Now, finally a proper star on the pro-tour:)