LIVE BLOG | 2026 China Open Snooker Final - Mark Selby v Noppon Saengkham
Live, frame by frame, text-based coverage of the 2026 China Open snooker final between Mark Selby and Noppon Saengkham.
The first big-stage ranking event of the fledgling 2026/27 professional snooker season will be won on Sunday in Taiyuan as Selby and Saengkham face each other in a two-session (07:00BST & 12:30BST) best of 19 frames final. The winner will pocket £250,000.
It sounds like a cliché, but the title match features the tournament’s top two players; Selby - going for a record fourth China Open crown - has dropped only seven frames in four matches, and Saengkham - a qualifier, and world number 45 - has enjoyed a giant-killing run during which he has eliminated Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, and Shaun Murphy along the way.
In this blog, Totally Snookered will bring you live updates throughout the day. Will it be a 26th ranking title for Selby, or a maiden one for Saengkham?
16:00BST: MARK SELBY IS THE 2026 CHINA OPEN CHAMPION
Mark Selby has done it!
After both players squandered chances earlier in frame 16, Selby puts his opponent in trouble with a safety.
Saengkham replies with a good one, but Selby sinks a fantastic opening red into a middle pocket and goes on to make a tournament-winning break of 57.
It is Selby's 26th career ranking event title, and a record fourth China Open crown.
15:34BST: Selby 9-6 Saengkham
Saengkham is staying put!
Selby pots the opening red of the frame but misses the subsequent black when colliding into the pack of reds.
World number 45 Saengkham punishes, doing the business with a frame-winning effort of 61.
One down, four more to go?