Xiao Guodong Defends Wuhan Open Title in Nail-Biting Final

Xiao Guodong successfully defended his Wuhan Open title after a hard-fought 10-9 win against Gary Wilson in Saturday’s final at the Optics Valley Gymnasium. The Chinese cueist staged a remarkable comeback from 8-6 down to secure the £140,000 top prize on home soil for the second season in a row.

With this victory, Xiao became only the fifth player in snooker history—after Ray Reardon, John Parrott, Mark Allen, and Gary Wilson—to win his first two ranking titles at the same tournament. The win further solidifies his rise from journeyman to established elite player over the past year.

The final began cautiously, with both players showing nerves in the early frames. Xiao initially took a 2-0 lead but allowed Wilson to level the score ahead of the interval. Wilson, who had previously defeated top players like Judd Trump and John Higgins en route to the final, briefly took the lead with a break of 96. However, Xiao fought back to ensure a 5-3 lead after the first session.

Wilson narrowed the gap with a superb 116 break before the evening session, which saw a significant rise in quality from both players. The match remained tightly contested, with Wilson eventually pulling ahead 8-6. Yet Xiao demonstrated tremendous resilience, producing breaks of 103 and 90 to level at 8-8.

After moving within one frame of victory at 9-8, Xiao suffered an unlucky positional shot, allowing Wilson to force a decider with a break of 52. In the tense final frame, Xiao held his nerve to secure the title, sending the home crowd into celebration.

The victory will propel Xiao to a career-high world ranking of No. 8, capping off a memorable week that began with his second career maximum break. Earlier this season, he chose to skip the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in favor of the World Games, where he won a gold medal for China—a decision that has clearly paid off.