Ding Junhui ends title drought with International Championship win over Chris Wakelin

Ding Junhui has landed his first ranking title for nearly five years after beating Chris Wakelin 10-7 in the final of the International Championship.

The 37-year-old delighted the fans in Nanjing as he ended his ranking event drought and won his first title in China since the World Open in September 2017 and his first anywhere since the 2019 UK Championship.

It is the second time Ding has won the International Championship, a significant event on the calendar, which will see the winner pick up £175,000 in prize money.

Wakelin fell short against the Chinese icon, but still enjoyed a fantastic week and the £75,000 he claimed for his runner-up spot is the biggest financial reward of the 32-year-old’s career to date.

The Englishman also climbs into the world’s top 16 for the first time, helpfully just before the UK Championship so he will be seeded straight through to the Barbican in York and avoid qualification.

However, it is Ding who has his hands on the brilliant trophy and has claimed a 15th ranking title in the process, still sitting ninth on the list of ranking event winners.

It was Wakelin who made a bright start to the final, taking an early 4-1 lead with four half-centuries along the way, not showing any nerves in the biggest match of his career.

However, the wheels came off a bit and the more experienced man found his feet to win the next six frames, ending the first session 5-4 ahead and then starting the second session well.

The underdog finally stopped the rot and did so impressively with breaks of 82 and 89 to get back in tough at 7-6 behind.

However, Ding was still playing well, with breaks of 98 and 72 to go one from victory and getting over the line in the 17th frame.

Wakelin told World Snooker Tour: ‘I got off to a great start, then losing six frames on the trot was the difference between winning and losing today.

‘But I managed to get myself back into the match and I was really proud with how I handled myself. Only a couple of years ago that kind of situation would have scared the life out of me. To be out there and feel like I still could have won despite how well Ding played, I felt like I was a credit to myself today.

‘As much as it does sometimes feel like a dream world being in the later stages of these tournaments, it also feels incredibly normal as well, like I belong there and one day I am capable of coming back and lifting this sort of title.’

Ding’s run to the final saw him dominate the early rounds as he lost just one frame across wins over Reanne Evans, Martin O’Donnell and Hossein Vafaei.

Things got trickier as he beat Chinese teenager Jiang Jun and then picked up an excellent win over world champion Kyren Wilson.

He found himself behind early in his semi-final against compatriot Xu Si, but came back strongly to win 9-6 and secure his spot in the showpiece.

Wakelin won his qualifier and then was handed a walk-over in his opener in Nanjing as Zak Surety pulled out.

Then came a superb run of wins over Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams and John Higgins, before a nail-biting 9-8 semi-final victory over Xiao Guodong.