International Championship

Has Zhang won many events before then? Presumably a career high for either if they win. Well done to Zhang anyway.

(11-11-2023 15:40 )Joannis Wrote:  Zhang Anda and Tom Ford have never played each other in a professional tournament, and whoever wins tomorrow will get to play in next week's Champion of Champions.

Which in turn now means Ding Junhui has seen his hopes of a spot in the COC event dashed. He needed an O'Sullivan win to deal a place.

According to the WST website, Zhang Anda has been a professional since 2009/10 season but the closest he's ever come to winning something as a professional was this year's English Open.

(11-11-2023 16:32 )Snooks Wrote:  

(11-11-2023 15:40 )Joannis Wrote:  Zhang Anda and Tom Ford have never played each other in a professional tournament, and whoever wins tomorrow will get to play in next week's Champion of Champions.

Which in turn now means Ding Junhui has seen his hopes of a spot in the COC event dashed. He needed an O'Sullivan win to deal a place.

He should have tried harder to just win a bloody tournament if he was all that bothered. It's not like there aren't easy ones to pick off for someone of his calibre. He really should pull his finger out in the Home Nations, too.

Ding might get lucky and someone might pull out. But with the winner getting £150,000 I don't see it myself.

Zhang Anda made a fantastic 147 break in the third frame to go 2-1 up but he only has a slender 5-4 lead after the first session.

I can't watch the final session live as I'm going to the pub to watch West Ham v Forest. I'll have to catch the highlights later on Eurosport or Discovery Plus.

Tom Ford started the final session well, winning the 10th frame emphatically to level the scores at 5-5. But after that Zhang Anda bossed the match. Zhang comfortably ran out a 10-6 winner to win his first major title.

Perhaps Ford's form this season will break the dam at some point. Well done to Zhang, though, also in the form of his life.