“The 2024 International Championship tournament ended in the Chinese city of Nanjing”, — write: sport.ua
Dean won 7 ranking tournaments in his home country. This week’s win was the first on home soil since 2017. Dean’s last triumph in China was recorded at the World Open 7 years ago when he beat Kyren Wilson in the final. Now he is a two-time winner of the International Championship (first won the tournament in 2013).
This is also Dean’s first ranking tournament win in five years. He last won a major in 2019 at the British Championships, where he defeated Stephen Maguire in the title match.
The win and the top prize of £175,000 allowed Dean to jump from 93rd straight to 7th on the annual list, and from 9th to 8th in the world rankings. This strengthens his position in the race for the lucrative snooker tournament in Riyadh in December, which will feature the top 10 world-ranked players at the UK Championship.
Wakelin will have to settle for the £75,000 runner-up prize, but it has been a remarkable week for the Englishman. His performance allowed him to be among the 16 best players in the world for the first time in his career. It means he automatically gets a slot at the UK Championship in York and boosts his chances of qualifying for the Masters in January.
The players entered the evening session with a slight advantage of Dean (5:4). The momentum was in his favor as he took the final four frames of the day to break out from a 1-4 lead. The crowd cheered for their hero as the game got under way in the final session.
Things continued to go in Dean’s favor in the first frame of the night, but Wakelin had the first chance. A bad black on the point gave Dean a move and he won the frame with a break of 66 to make it 6-4. Both players had opportunities in the next round. The 63-point run was the decisive contribution for Dean (7-4), and it was a run of six consecutive frames.
Wakelin showed his class and stubbornly fought to stay afloat amid the opponent’s onslaught. Breaks of 82 and 89 saw him win frames 12 and 13, and the score was 6-7 before the mid-session break. A brilliant break of 98 allowed Dean to restore his two-frame lead when play resumed.
However, Wakelin continued to fight and won the 35-minute fight in the 15th frame (7:8). It was Wakelin’s last frame win of the match, and Dean fired runs of 72 and 64 to seal the victory in style and return to the tournament winners (10-7).
Ding Junhui: “Winning in China feels like a domestic triumph. The support I get here is incredible. Players must stay focused on the match, but outside support also helps. It was difficult not only for me, but also for the fans. I’m glad we all pulled through together. The arrangements in Nanjing, such as transport and facilities, were excellent.
I played well in every match. Chris applied a lot of pressure in this game, especially with the score 4-1 in his favor. I felt a lot of pressure at the beginning of the match. It was a perfect start for him, but he started to miss and I took the key frames to take a 5-4 lead. The second session was completely different.
Over the past five years, there have been both good and bad moments. Sometimes there were early exits, there were several semi-finals and quarter-finals. Reflecting on my career, it seems that I either dropped out early or went all the way. I didn’t know my family would be at the trophy ceremony, it was great to see them. My kids have never seen me win anything live before.”
Chris Wakelin: “I had a great start and losing six frames in a row was the deciding factor. I was proud of how well I handled myself. A few years ago, such a situation would have scared me to death. To be there and feel like I could have won, despite the way Dean played, I think was an honor for me.
I have very vivid memories of watching snooker as a child and dreaming of being in those situations. Although it sometimes seems like a dream world, it also seems unbelievable. I feel like I’m here and that I can come back and one day take that title. As disappointing as today was, I’m really proud of how I did.”
According to the materials of the World Snooker Tour
2024 International Championship
Nanjing (China), November 3-10
FinalNovember 10
Chris Wakelin (England) – Ding Junhui (China) – 7:10
Video fragments of the match