The 2006 World Snooker Star Dragon Woods Villa Cup China Open tournament was concluded in Beijing yesterday evening when World No.9 Mark Williams of the UK beat World No.6 John Higgins 9-8 in a dramatic upset. This was Williams' first ranking title since the LG Cup in 2003.

The seven-day tournament was held at the Beijing University Students Gymnasium.

The best of 17 frames finals witnessed seesaw battles between the 31-year-old left-handed Welshman and Higgins.

Higgins, aiming for his third title of the season, could have held a 5-3 lead in the eighth frame had he not jumped the cue ball over the black before Williams capitalized on this to make a 66 run and leveled the game at 4-4.

This seesawing carried on until the game was leveled again at 8-8. But Williams' stamina and determination pulled him through to grab victory with a 69-44 final frame score.

"This goes down as one of my best victories because it has been such a long time since the last one. The last frame was very edgy, the pressure was getting to the both of us. But I knocked in a good green and that won me the match," Williams said.

"There was some good and bad snooker, both of us were throwing ourselves at everything," Higgins said, adding: " I am disappointed to lose the game, but I think it was an enjoyable match for the Chinese people to watch."

Local favorite Ding Junhui, the 19-year-old snooker sensation who became an instant star after coming from nowhere to win the 2005 China Open, lost to Mark Williams in a 6-2 semi-final game.

Ding was present at the final to receive his Highest Score in One Shot Award US$3,500 in prize money. He scored 135 points in one shot during his 5-2 triumph over Graeme Dott on Thursday.

"I'm very lucky to win the award. Before it required more than 140 points and I didn't expect to take it with just 135."

Paul Hunter won the last prize with 141 points at the 2005 China Open.

Commenting on his failure to defend his title, Ding said, "I learned a lot in the tournament. So, winning isn't everything."

Ding started the season ranked 62, but his performance at this tournament has bumped him up to 23.

China has hosted eight international tournaments since 1990, but this year's was the most well-organized and publicized, according to Zhang Xiaodong, official of the Billiards Administration Center. Nine of the world's top 10 players competed for the title worth US$526,000.

However, Zhang admitted that Ding is the only rallying point for the sport, and "China's audiences are not acquainted enough with the world's aces".

Of the eight domestic players, who were issued wildcards for the 2006 China Open, four were below the age of 20, including Li Xing and Liu Chuang.

Despite the China Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA)'s willingness to offer young talents the opportunity to compete with world-class veterans, Tang Fengxiang, CBSA's secretary general, said it was impractical to try to duplicate Ding's success.

The crux of the matter is money. Most of domestic players cannot afford the exorbitant overseas training fees. China's 60-plus professional players earn only US$2500-3700 a year from the six domestic events that offer a total of US$125,000 in prize money.

"Living expenses alone in the UK are about US$19,000 a year. So few people can afford it," lamented Yang Qingtian, who lost to Ding 5-4 in the first round of the tournament.

(China.org.cn by Li Xiao March 27, 2006)