Chinese snooker star Ding Junhui won the Pukka Pies United Kingdom Championship in a tense and thrilling final which went into the early hours of Monday. Ding, aged 22 and from Jiangsu Province in eastern China, beat Scotsman John Higgins 10-8 in the final.
For Ding it is the second time that he has been crowned UK champion - his first championship win was in 2005 as a precocious teenager. The championship comes with a prize fee of 100,000 pounds (about 162,300 US dollars), and Ding's own body weight in the championship sponsor's product. The sponsor is Pukka Pies, and Ding, who weighs 68 kilograms, now has 276 of their pies.
China's Dingjunhui kisses the trophy after beating Scottish John Higgins in the final of the UK Championship in Telford, Dec. 13, 2009
The victory also takes Ding up to sixth in the provisional world rankings. Despite the defeat Higgins remains the world number one, by a large margin.
Higgins is also current world champion, having won the title seven months ago at the Sheffield Crucible in the north of England. He may have suffered a little in the run-up to the final,having played a tough semi-final the day before, when he beat Englishman Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-8 in a very close game.
Ding had beaten Stephen Maguire in his semi-final on Friday and was able to spend the Saturday before the final relaxing and practicing.
In the final it was level pegging for much of the early part of the game. Ding went ahead six times, but each time Higgins would take a frame to bring the players back level. They reached 7-7, when the turning point came for Ding in the 15th frame. Higgins was at the table and looked set to win the frame, when he lost his concentration while taking a routine pot on the brown, missed, and Ding was able to come and clear up - taking the frame and 8-7 lead.
Higgins had chance to make amends in the 16th frame, but he missed a crucial red to a top-corner pocket when leading 49-0. Ding was able to come back and win the frame, leaving the score 9-7 in his favour.
Higgins took another frame with a 115 break, but Ding's 75 break in the final frame was enough to take him to 10-8 and victory.
Ding told the Guardian newspaper: "It's been a crazy week. I've beaten four of the five top players. It's brilliant.
"I concentrate more. Sometimes I don't play the best shot but I keep my mind clear and tell myself not to get angry."
Ding had previously won the UK Championship, in 2005 when he beat snooker legend Steve Davis 10-6 at the Barbican Centre in York, in the north of England.
This victory at the Telford International Centre, in the English Midlands, is his fourth ranking title victory, joining the previous UK Championship win, the Northern Ireland Trophy in 2006 and his first ranking win the China Open in Shanghai in 2005.
The win is a welcome return to form for a young player who many have tipped to be world champion one day.