Congratulations to world number 20 Ricky Walden who has beaten Liang Wenbo to take the General Cup International title…
Ricky Walden 6-2 Liang Wenbo
July 17th – Final (Best of 11 frames)
Ricky Walden 6-2 Liang Wenbo
62(56)-7, 56-39, 8-70, 66(58)-61, 1-117(116), 68-6, 67(52)-34, 68(62)-0
Having already lost 4-1 to Liang earlier in the week, Ricky arguably came into today’s final as an underdog, though he is of course the more experienced and higher ranked player. Right from the start however he asserted himself well with a break of 56 in the first frame before adding the second to secure an early 2-0 lead. Liang did manage to win two of the next three, highlighted by a break of 116 to close to 2-3 but from there it was all Walden as he took the next three to secure victory.
So it is another trophy for Ricky in Asia, having of course taken the Sangsom 6-Red tournament and the Shanghai Masters in 2008. Next up for him will be an appearance in the World Games (see my Summer of Snooker article), as although he is scheduled to play tomorrow in Prestatyn in the Pontin’s Pro-Am series, it seems reasonable to assume that he will be giving that one a miss!
It is a shame for Liang that he was not able to make it two titles in a row but he can be very happy with his work during the last week or so as he has made it clear that he will be one to watch during the coming season. Whether he will be able to push on into the top 16 remains to be seen but you can be sure that he will not be lacking the confidence to do so…