He snooker has lowered the curtain professionally in 2025 this Sunday with the closing of the Scottish Openthird tournament of the Home Nations Series of the 2025-2026 season. In a tremendously open field, in the last big event before the Masters, Chris Wakelin He has been proclaimed champion to add his second ranking title.
The English player has conquered the second ranking title of his careerthe most important after the Shoot Out that he won in the 2022-2023 season. After an irregular season but in which he had nevertheless been a semi-finalist in the Saudi Arabia Masters, Wakelin has obtained a prestigious victory.
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He has done it in a tournament with many casualties in which he has swept the final this Sunday. In it he has dominated the Chinese Chang Bingyu by a resounding 9-2 in a match that has not even reached the break of the second session. Although Bingyu, in its first final, has been 1-2 up, it has not been able to stop the gale of an English player who has won eight consecutive tables.
With a 104 after clearing the last table, Wakelin closed a match in which he added another seven half hundreds. The 107 that gave Bingyu an advantage with that 1-2 score remains an anecdote, since the Chinese player has been completely dominated since then. Thus, Wakelin has been able to add his first title in a traditional game format.
He has done it after setting the tone throughout the week. He started the draw with a 4-2 victory against Oliver Lines and then beat Anthony McGill (4-0), Yuan Sijun (4-2), Zhou Yuelong (5-3) and, in the semifinals, Matthew Welt (6-4). It was his fourth ranking final, since in addition to his victory in the Shoot Out he had lost the fight for the titles of the 2023 Northern Ireland Open against Judd Trump and last year’s International Championship against Ding Junhui.
He has not been able to win a Chang Bingyu who, at twenty-three years old, was playing in his first final in a season of progression for him. The Chinese has been the great revelation of the tournament with high-level victories against Stephen Maguire (4-2), Si Jiahui (4-1), Kyren Wilson in the round of 16 (4-1), Mark Selby in the quarterfinals (5-3) and Mark Allen in the semifinals (6-1).
In this way, three big favorites fell by the wayside in a tournament in which Lei Peifan was defending his title (he lost 4-3 in the second round against Yuan Sijun) and in which Shaun Murphy lost 4-1 in the second round against Stuart Bingham. Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Williams and Neil Robertson were absentwhile Zhao Xintong (4-2 loss to Joe O’Connor) and John Higgins (4-0 defeat to Noppon Saengkham) also stayed in the second round.
Professional snooker stops until the start of the non-ranking Championship League, with the first groups starting on January 2. Although, above all, The spotlight is now on the Alexandra Palace in London, which will host the Mastersthird ‘major’ and second ‘Triple Crown’ tournament of the season, between January 11 and 18.
Champions of the 2025-2026 snooker season
1. Championship League (ranking): Stephen Maguire
2. Shanghai Masters (no de ranking): Kyren Wilson
3. Saudi Arabia Masters (ranking): Neil Robertson
4. Open de Wuhan (ranking): Xiao Guodong
5. Open the Inglaterra (ranking): Mark Allen
6. British Open (ranking): Shaun Murphy
7. Xi’an Grand Prix (ranking): Mark Williams
8. Open de Irlanda del Norte (ranking): Jack Lisowski
9. International Championship (ranking): Wu Yize
10. Champion of Champions (no de ranking): Mark Selby
11. Riyadh Season Championship (no de ranking): Zhao Xintong
12. UK Championship (ranking): Mark Selby
13. Shoot Out (ranking): Alfie Burden
14. Scottish Open (ranking): Chris Wakelin
