Bai Yulu triumphed at the UK Women’s Championship on Sunday with a 4-0 defeat of Reanne Evans in the final at the Northern Snooker Centre.
The reigning women’s world snooker champion comfortably overcame Evans in Leeds to land a third career ranking title.
Bai was seeded through to the last 16 of the competition where she beat Emma Powers-Richardson with a 3-0 scoreline.
A 3-1 defeat of Anupama Ramachandran followed before the 21 year-old then overcame Mink Nutcharut 4-1 in the semi-finals.
The final was a scrappy affair with no breaks above 50, but Bai was able to emerge with a whitewash success against the tournament’s defending champion.
Glory for Bai adds to her previous titles on the women’s circuit in last season’s Women’s World Championship and the prior campaign’s British Open.
Many believe that the young Chinese competitor has the pedigree to elevate the women’s game further, and she is starting to land the most prestigious titles to prove it.
Ng On Yee, who won the season-opening UK Women’s Open, suffered a surprise loss to Rebecca Kenna in the quarter-finals.
2024 UK Women’s Championship
Selected Results
Last 16
Reanne Evans 3-2 Amee Kamani
So Man Yan 3-1 Jasmine Bolsover
Rebecca Kenna 3-0 Daisy May Oliver
Ng On Yee 3-1 Fong Mei Mei
Mink Nutcharut 3-1 Mary Talbot
Baipat Siripaporn 3-2 Cheung Yee Ting
Anupama Ramachandran 3-2 Tessa Davidson
Quarter-Finals
Reanne Evans 3-0 So Man Yan
Rebecca Kenna 3-0 Ng On Yee
Mink Nutcharut 3-1 Baipat Siripaporn
Bai Yulu 3-1 Anupama Ramachandran
Semi-Finals
Reanne Evans 4-1 Rebecca Kenna
Bai Yulu 4-1 Mink Nutcharut
Final
Bai Yulu 4-0 Reanne Evans
The Snooker 900 in Hull
Igor Figueiredo, meanwhile, triumphed at the Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker 900 event in Hull on Sunday.
There had already been a dramatic black-ball climax to a snooker final on Saturday with Judd Trump edging Mark Williams in thrilling fashion to claim the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters crown.
The Snooker 900 may not have as much riding on it, but Figueiredo appeared to be just as delighted upon potting the final black for victory against Jimmy White.
It had looked as though the latter, who has featured in all three 900 event finals without landing the silverware, was going to take glory in the third and final frame.
But the four-time world seniors champion broke down when in among the balls, leaving Figueiredo the opportunity to mount a special clearance.
The Brazilian is the current player to beat on the World Seniors Snooker Tour, adding this trophy to the World Seniors Championship title he won in May.
Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker 900 (Hull)
Group Stages
Match A1: Igor Figueiredo 0-1 Ken Doherty
Match B1: Jimmy White 0-1 Tony Drago
Match A2: Barry Pinches 0-1 Ken Doherty
Match B2: Stephen Hendry 0-1 Tony Drago
Match A3: Barry Pinches 0-1 Igor Figueiredo
Match B3: Stephen Hendry 0-1 Jimmy White
Semi-Finals
Ken Doherty 0-1 Jimmy White
Tony Drago 0-1 Igor Figueiredo
Final
Jimmy White 1-2 Igor Figueiredo
What snooker is there this week?
There are a few quieter days in the snooker world before the English Open on the main tour gets under way.
The entire tournament takes place at the Brentwood Leisure Centure, with the qualifiers starting on Thursday and the main event running from September 16-22.
Featured photo credit: WWS
The women’s UK Championship seemed to feature one sided matches in terms of frame scorelines almost across the board! Bai Yulu growing into her status as the hottest property on the women’s tour and Reanne Evans and Ng On-Yee continuing to lose their hold over the best of the younger competitors to such an extent that I expect the better young ladies to beat them more often than not now.
Talking of veterans, Tony Drago won on a ten quid bet for me at just over evens against Jimmy White this weekend. Some grand old names competing more frequently again!