Ng On Yee secured glory at the British Women’s Open for the third year on the trot – beating Bai Yulu 4-2 in Sunday’s final in Walsall.
The Hong Kong cueist was bidding for a hat-trick in the tournament following back-to-back victories in 2024 and 2025.
Success also represents Ng’s second on the bounce this season having recently got her hands on the Belgian Women’s Open crown.
Her form on this occasion proved to be too strong for women’s world number one Bai, who Ng managed to beat in a final for the first time in her career.
The three-time world champion had already lost three title-deciding contests to Bai during the 2025/26 campaign.
After Bai had won the opening frame, Ng took a tight second on the black to crucially ensure that she didn’t fall too far behind early on.
The 35 year-old then edged in front with an excellent break of 85, before Bai responded to restore parity and set up a grandstand finish.
But Ng regained the advantage by taking the fifth frame, and she subsequently completed the triumph with a break of 66.
It marks Ng’s 24th career victory on the World Women’s Snooker Tour, making her one of the most prolific champions in the history of the women’s game.
As the tournament’s top two seeds, both Ng and Bai had been automatically seeded through to the knockout phase so didn’t need to contest the initial group stages.
They comfortably reached the quarter-finals with respective whitewash wins over Deborah Fladgate and Selina Dean.
After beating So Man Yan 3-0, Bai dropped her first frame against Reanne Evans but still comfortably emerged as a 4-1 winner against the 12-time world champion.
Ng, though, was a dominant force all the way through the final, securing bagel defeats of Narucha Phoemphul and Rebecca Kenna before outlasting Bai for the silverware.
Next up on the World Women’s Snooker Tour is the season-ending World Women’s Championship in China, the dates for which have recently been confirmed as being May 12 to 19.
2026 British Women’s Open
Selected Results
Last 16
Ng On Yee 3-0 Deborah Fladgate
Narucha Phoemphul 3-2 Cheung Yee Ting
Rebecca Kenna 3-1 Natasha Kent
Mink Nutcharut 3-0 Zeinab Shahi
Reanne Evans 3-0 Lau Yuk Fan
Ho Yee Ki 3-0 Tessa Davidson
So Man Yan 3-1 Anna Prisjaznuka
Bai Yulu 3-0 Selina Dean
Quarter-Finals
Ng On Yee 3-0 Narucha Phoemphul
Rebecca Kenna 3-1 Mink Nutcharut
Reanne Evans 3-0 Ho Yee Ki
Bai Yulu 3-0 So Man Ya
Semi-Finals
Ng On Yee 4-0 Rebecca Kenna
Bai Yulu 4-1 Reanne Evans
Final
Ng On Yee 4-2 Bai Yulu
Featured photo credit: WPBSA
Meanwhile in Dechang (Sichuan province), Jiang Jun won a CBSA event. There were 7 current professionals in the 65-player draw, mostly the younger players. Jiang beat Liu Hongyu, Lan Yuhao, Gao Yang and Yao Pengcheng, and also got the high-break of 137. It was another superbly staged event by the CBSA, with a decent crowd in a 4-table arena. Xiao Guodong and Kyren Wilson played an exhibition match to launch the event. The young Wang Xinbo lost in the semi-final to local professional Yao Pengcheng, but builds on his lead at the top of the CBSA rankings, for which 2 tour cards are available.
Elsewhere, Zhao Xintong, John Higgins, Mark Allen and Judd Trump were in Beijing for a Heyball exhibition.
These events are important preparatiion as we enter the final stage of the season, with 5 weeks of almost continuous top-level snooker.
There was also the Asia-Pacific championship, won by the 58-year old Paul Norris – remarkably someone who I remember from my playing days. This event carries a tour card as well.
Excellent competitiveness for Ng On Yee. The newly confirmed women’s world championship looks a much more interesting prospect now.
Yes, I might be in Dongguan in May to see the new venue.
Congratulations to Kellie Barker winning a round-robin match. She’s only recently started playing on the Women’s Tour.
Barker is best known for he being one of the Crucible supporters that attend every year and are present for many days. Her husband, Chris Downer, is the author of the Crucible Almanac.