Mark Selby beat Noppon Saengkham 10-6 in the final of the China Open in Taiyuan on the 16th of August, sealing a fourth title in the event and the 26th ranking crown of his career. It was the 43-year-old’s first ranking win since he defeated Judd Trump in the UK Championship final in the December of 2025, with the £250,000 top prize lifting him straight back into the top five of the world rankings.
What matters more than the money is where it leaves him on snooker’s all-time list. Selby’s total now sits level with Neil Robertson, just one behind Mark Williams and two off Steve Davis.
Top Image: Andrej146, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
A Return to China
The tournament itself had been missing from the snooker calendar since 2019, with it being dropped amidst the pandemic before being revived this year with a move from Beijing to Taiyuan’s Riverside Sports Centre. Selby made himself instantly at home, opening with a 6-3 win over Pang Junxu, before beating two former world champions in Kyren Wilson and Robertson, by an identical 6-1 scoreline, prior to seeing off Stuart Bingham 6-2 in the semi-final.
🏆 𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗕𝗬 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝟰𝗧𝗛 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗔 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡 𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡
Mark Selby defeats Noppon Saengkham 10-6 to win the 2026 China Open title.
It is Selby’s 26th career ranking event crown, and he collects the £250,000 top prize in Taiyuan.
Congratulations, Mark!
#snooker | #ChinaOpen
— Totally Snookered – Snooker news and fan community (@totallysnookered.bsky.social) 16 August 2026 at 16:10
Saengkham, looking for his maiden ranking title, had the better of the opening exchanges in the final when he got a break of 138 in order to propel him to a 4-2 lead. A disputed foul call in the seventh frame turned the match, however. Selby took that frame as well as the next to level the match at 4-4 at the interval, then pulled clear in the evening session with runs of 58, 90, 69 and 52 to lead 8-4. He closed out with a run of 57, which was enough to see off a defiant 71 from Saengkham along the way to the 10-6 win.
Two Nice Stories
Saengkham’s run to the final was the story of the week regardless of the outcome. Amongst others, the Thai beat world number one Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan and former world champion Shaun Murphy, then survived a scare against Zhou Yuelong in the semi-final thanks to a 134 clearance in the deciding frame. The runner-up’s cheque of £100,000, the biggest of his career, moves him up to 27th in the world in terms of earnings.
Trump stays top of the rankings for now, despite an early exit in Taiyuan, but £500,000 of his lead drops off the two-year list next week when his 2024 Saudi Arabia Masters win ages out of the scoring. That leaves five players, Trump, Robertson, Zhao Xintong, Wu Yize and Selby, all within touching distance of top spot heading into the Wuhan Open, which starts on the 23rd of August. Win it, and Selby returns to world number one for the first time since 2022. At 43, with the record books recalculating around him, he shows no sign of his race being run just yet.
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