Congratulations to world number 24 Joe Perry, who has today defeated Mark Selby 4-1 to claim the AT1 event in Yixing China ahead of next week’s Wuxi Classic. His first professional title since the 2008 Championship League, the win sees Joe take the top prize of £10,000, as well as all but assuring him of a place in the PTC Grand Finals tournament later in the season…
Having lost just three frames and recorded five whitewashes on his way to the final, Mark Selby needed just one more win to reclaim top spot in the world rankings from Neil Robertson, who usurped Selby from that position with his own final run at the Bulgarian Open last week.
Today though was to be Joe Perry’s day, as the former world semi-finalist and Championship League winner claimed the opening three frames with top breaks of 70 and 69, before adding the fifth to complete a 4-1 victory.
Rounding off a good week for Perry, which saw him win his opening three matches 4-0, before overcoming Robert Milkins, Cao Yupeng and Alan McManus to reach the final, the title represents his first victory at an event carrying ranking points. Coincidentally, it was in fact Selby who Joe defeated in the final of the last professional event that he was to win, back at Crondon Park at the inaugural Championship League in 2008.
Joe’s reward will not only be a confidence boost ahead of next week’s Wuxi Classic for which he successfully qualified with victory against Kyren Wilson in Gloucester, but should also see him qualify for the PTC Grand Finals next year, as one of the top eight players in the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Elsewhere at the event, Scotland’s Scott Donaldson continued his impressive start to the season (played 16, won 13) with a run to the semi-finals before losing to Selby, while countryman Alan McManus rounded off the last four with another strong run of late, which sees him climb to 43rd in the latest projected seedings list.
The best performances from the Chinese players came from professionals Liu Chuang, Tian Pengfei, Cao Yupeng and Yu Delu, who all lost in the quarter-finals, while there were impressive wins for local amateur players against the likes of Mark Williams, Kurt Maflin and Graeme Dott.
Other notable runs came from returning professionals Alex Davies and Andrew Pagett, who both reached the last 16, while Gerard Greene continued to show signs of improvement with another couple of wins in the tournament, after a difficult couple of seasons.
Check back later for my preview of the Wuxi Classic, which starts on Monday…