English Open 2016: Liang Wenbo tops Trump in final

The Chinese player's maiden world ranking title also means he's now the only player left in contention for the £1million bonus on offer for winning all four Home Nations events this season.

He's also only the fourth Asian player to win a ranking title after James Wattana, Ding Junhui and Marco Fu.

Wenbo took a 5-3 lead into the evening session but Trump immediately hit back with a stunning break of 132 to cut the deficit to just one.

The player nicknamed The Firecracker then responded with two fine breaks of 84 and 98 to move 7-4 up only for Trump to take the next two frames before the Englishman almost levelled the scores in frame 14 when leading 41-2.

But a superb clearance of 62 from Wenbo denied Trump and he held his nerve to take the next which sparked jubilant celebrations as he prepared to lift the Steve Davis Trophy and pocket a cheque for £70,000.

The 29-year-old will rise to 12 in the world rankings and has now qualified for next month's Champion of Champions tournament in Coventry.

Should he go on and win the Northern Ireland Open, Scottish Open and Welsh Open he will land the £1million bonus.

"I'm very happy," Wenbo told www.worldsnooker.com. "In the last two frames I concentrated on every shot and made two good breaks. Snooker is a very difficult game but if you don't enjoy it you don't play well. Judd put me under pressure but to go 8-6 ahead gave me more confidence.

"I have to say thank you to Ronnie O'Sullivan because I practise with him and eat with him every day. I have learned a lot from him over the past two years and he's my best friend. Yesterday he told me to look back at my UK Championship final last year and see what I could learn from it. I knew I needed to be more calm and controlled this time.

"I'm going to forget about this victory now and keep going in the next one. I always learn from every experience."

Wenbo showed his intent from the off by making back-to-back breaks of 95 in the first two frames before making runs of 76 and 93 to establish his advantage after Trump had battled back to 2-2.

A key moment of the match came in the seventh frame when Trump managed to force a re-spot after Liang ran out of position on his previous shot. After a good opening shot from Trump, his opponent took on an ambitious double to the bottom left pocket and made it.

Trump made a break of 52 in the final frame of the session to pull back within two and set up what proved to be a high-quality evening.

Wenbo's previous career highlights include winning an Asian Tour event in 2013 and the World Cup for China alongside Ding in 2011 while his two previous ranking finals were the 2009 Shanghai Masters, when he lost 10-5 to Ronnie O'Sullivan, and last year's UK Championship when he was beaten by Neil Robertson by the same scoreline.

Trump missed out on becoming the 11th player in snooker history to win back-to-back ranking titles having won last week's European Masters but does receive £30,000 and remains third in the world.

He told www.worldsnooker.com: "I was chasing him throughout the day but I should have made it 7-7 and if I had done that it might have been a different result. I should have turned the screw and grabbed control of the match. I felt a bit of pressure and I was taking too much time, when I should have just got on with it.

"Liang was playing with freedom and his long potting was unbelievable. It's good to have another winner from China.

"I'm annoyed not to get back-to-back ranking titles but winning 14 matches in a row has given me confidence and I will try to start a new run now. When you lose a final it gives you another kick because you don't want to feel like that again. It's a good time to be in form with so many tournaments coming up." 

English Open 2016: Daily Results

Monday October 10
Morning Session (1000 BST onwards)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Sam Craigie v Liam Highfield w/o (Match 2)
Gareth Allen 3-4 Stephen Maguire (Match 3)
Boonyarit Keattikun 3-4 Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (Match 10)
Alex Borg 0-4 Li Hang (Match 11)
Dechawat Poomjaeng 2-4 John J Astley (Match 13)
Eden Sharav 1-4 James Wattana (Match 20)
James Cahill 4-3 Adam Stefanow (Match 24)
Ian Burns 4-2 Christopher Keogan (Match 27)

Afternoon Session (1300 BST onwards)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Ryan Day 4-1 Kurt Maflin (Match 4)
Michael White 4-0 Jason Weston (Match 9)
Mark King 4-3 Thor Chuan Leong (Match 18)
Itaro Santos 1-4 Joe Swail (Match 23)
Oliver Lines 1-4 Ian Preece (Match 25)
Mark Joyce 3-4 Craig Steadman (Match 26)
Mark Williams 4-2 David John (Match 28)
Zhou Yuelong 4-3 Jimmy White (Match 30)
Ross Muir 4-3 Zhang Yong (Match 36)
Akani Songsermsawad 4-0 Kurt Dunham (Match 38)
Josh Boileau 2-4 Zhang Anda (Match 40)
Adam Duffy 1-4 Anthony Hamilton (Match 43)
Sam Baird 3-4 Elliot Slessor (Match 45)
Jak Jones 4-0 Brandon Sargeant (Match 46)
Ding Junhui 4-0 Mitchell Mann (Match 48)

Evening Session (1900 BST onwards)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Martin Gould 4-1 Sydney Wilson (Match 29)
Matthew Stevens 1-4 Jamie Bodle (Match 31)
Peter Ebdon 1-4 Stuart Carrington (Match 42)
Joe Perry 2-4 Matthew Selt (Match 44)
Chris Wakelin 4-3 Allan Taylor (Match 56)
Aditya Mehta 3-4 Lee Walker (Match 57)
Alan McManus 4-1 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Match 63)
Stuart Bingham 4-3 Robert Milkins (Match 64)

Tuesday October 11
Morning Session (1000 BST onwards)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Andrew Higginson 4-1 Nigel Bond (Match 8)
Sean O'Sullivan 2-4 Scott Donaldson (Match 15)
Marco Fu 4-3 Martin O'Donnell (Match 21)
Darryl Hill 1-4 Mei Xi Wen (Match 47)
Noppon Saengkham 4-1 Michael Georgiou (Match 51)
Michael Holt 1-4 Xiao Guodong (Match 52)
Zhao Xintong 4-0 Wang Yuchen (Match 54)
Jamie Jones v Rhys Clark w/o (Match 58)

Afternoon Session (1300 BST onwards)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Fraser Patrick 4-1 Zak Surety (Match 19)
Rory McLeod 2-4 Tom Ford (Match 22)
Judd Trump 4-1 Ken Doherty (Match 32)
Liang Wenbo 4-0 Graeme Dott (Match 34)
Robbie Williams 0-4 Fergal O'Brien (Match 35)
Yu De Lu 1-4 Rod Lawler (Match 41)
Mike Dunn 0-4 Duane Jones (Match 50)
Peter Lines 4-1 Paul S Davison (Match 62)
Mark Selby 4-0 Gary Wilson (Match 1)
Mark Davis 4-1 Tian Pengfei (Match 6)
Yan Bingtao 4-2 Sanderson Lam (Match 14)
Mark Allen 4-1 Jamie Curtis-Barrett (Match 16)
John Higgins 4-2 Michael Wild (Match 17)
Ben Woollaston 4-1 Cao Yupeng (Match 39)
Neil Robertson 4-1 Hamza Akbar (Match 49)
Anthony McGill 4-2 Jamie Cope (Match 55)

Evening Session (1900 BST onwards)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Barry Hawkins 4-3 Jack Lisowski (Match 5)
Dominic Dale 2-4 David Grace (Match 7)
Ricky Walden 4-1 Robin Hull (Match 12)
Shaun Murphy 4-0 Chen Zhe (Match 33)
Ali Carter 4-3 Luca Brecel (Match 37)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-0 Jimmy Robertson (Match 53)
Alfie Burden 3-4 Daniel Wells (Match 59)
Hammad Miah 1-4 David Gilbert (Match 61)

Wednesday October 12
Morning Session (1000 BST onwards)
Second Round (Best of 7 frames)
Michael White 1-4 Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (Match 69)
Fraser Patrick 4-2 James Wattana (Match 74)
Joe Swail 4-1 James Cahill (Match 76)
Ian Preece 4-1 Craig Steadman (Match 77)
Ian Burns 1-4 Mark Williams (Match 78)
Fergal O'Brien 4-2 Ross Muir (Match 82)
Rod Lawler 3-4 Stuart Carrington (Match 85)
Elliot Slessor 3-4 Jak Jones (Match 87)

Afternoon Session (1300 BST onwards)
Second Round (Best of 7 frames)
Mark Selby 3-4 Liam Highfield (Match 65)
Stephen Maguire 3-4 Ryan Day (Match 66)
John J Astley 0-4 Yan Bingtao (Match 71)
Scott Donaldson 1-4 Mark Allen (Match 72)
John Higgins 4-1 Mark King (Match 73)
Marco Fu 2-4 Tom Ford (Match 75)
Martin Gould 4-2 Zhou Yuelong (Match 79)
Ben Woollaston 4-3 Zhang Anda (Match 84)
Noppon Saengkham 0-4 Xiao Guodong (Match 90)
Lee Walker 2-4 Rhys Clark (Match 93)
Daniel Wells 1-4 Kyren Wilson (Match 94)
David Gilbert 4-0 Peter Lines (Match 95)
Li Hang 3-4 Ricky Walden (Match 70)
Shaun Murphy 3-4 Liang Wenbo (Match 81)
Anthony Hamilton 4-2 Matthew Selt (Match 86)
Mei Xi Wen 0-4 Ding Junhui (Match 88)

Evening Session (1900 BST onwards)
Second Round (Best of 7 frames)
Barry Hawkins 4-2 Mark Davis (Match 67)
David Grace 4-3 Andrew Higginson (Match 68)
Jamie Bodle 3-4 Judd Trump (Match 80)
Ali Carter 4-3 Akani Songsermsawad (Match 83)
Neil Robertson 4-1 Duane Jones (Match 89)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-3 Zhao Xintong (Match 91)
Anthony McGill 1-4 Chris Wakelin (Match 92)
Alan McManus 2-4 Stuart Bingham (Match 96)

Thursday October 13
Afternoon Session (1200 BST onwards)
Third Round (Best of 7 frames)
Liam Highfield 1-4 Ryan Day (Match 97)
Barry Hawkins 4-1 Andrew Higginson (Match 98)
Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn 3-4 Ricky Walden (Match 99)
Yan Bingtao 4-3 Mark Allen (Match 100)
John Higgins 4-3 Fraser Patrick (Match 101)
Tom Ford 4-2 Joe Swail (Match 102)
Ian Preece 1-4 Mark Williams (Match 103)
Martin Gould 1-4 Judd Trump (Match 104)
Liang Wenbo 4-2 Fergal O'Brien (Match 105)
Ali Carter 2-4 Ben Woollaston (Match 106)
Stuart Carrington 1-4 Anthony Hamilton (Match 107)
Jak Jones 4-2 Ding Junhui (Match 108)
Neil Robertson 3-4 Xiao Guodong (Match 109)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 3-4 Chris Wakelin (Match 110)
Rhys Clark 4-3 Kyren Wilson (Match 111)
David Gilbert 0-4 Stuart Bingham (Match 112)

Evening Session (1900 BST onwards)
Fourth Round (Best of 7 frames)
Ryan Day 1-4 Barry Hawkins (Match 113)
Ricky Walden 4-1 Yan Bingtao (Match 114)
John Higgins 4-1 Tom Ford (Match 115)
Mark Williams 0-4 Judd Trump  (Match 116)
Liang Wenbo 4-3 Ben Woollaston  (Match 117)
Anthony Hamilton 4-3 Jak Jones (Match 118)
Xiao Guodong 3-4 Chris Wakelin  (Match 119)
Rhys Clark 1-4 Stuart Bingham  (Match 120)

Friday October 14
Afternoon Session (1200 BST onwards)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 frames)
Barry Hawkins 5-2 Ricky Walden (QF1)
John Higgins 1-5 Judd Trump (QF2)

Evening Session (1900 BST onwards)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 frames)
Liang Wenbo 5-2 Anthony Hamilton (QF3)
Chris Wakelin  0-5 Stuart Bingham (QF4)

Saturday October 15
​​​​​​Afternoon Session (1300 BST onwards)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 frames)
Barry Hawkins 2-6 Judd Trump (SF1)

Evening Session (1900 BST onwards)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 frames)
Liang Wenbo 6-5 Stuart Bingham (SF2)

Sunday October 16
Afternoon Session (1400 BST onwards)
Final (Best of 17 frames)
Judd Trump 3-5 Liang Wenbo

Evening Session (1930 BST onwards)
Final (Best of 17 frames)
Judd Trump 6-9 Liang Wenbo