"Moo Paknam" was unfortunately defeated by "Selby" in the final round of the 2026 China Open snooker tournament, with prize money details revealed.
On 16 August 2026, the professional world snooker tournament, the 2026 China Open, offering a total prize fund of £1,205,000 (about 54 million baht), was held from 8 to 16 August 2026 at the Riverside Sports Center in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, China.
In the final, "Moo Paknam" Noppol Sangkam, ranked 45th in the world from Thailand, who had defeated several top players in this event including Judd Trump, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy, and Zhao Xintong, faced Mark Selby, ranked 9th in the world from England, in a best-of-19-frames match.
In the first session, "Moo Paknam" performed well, coming back from a 1-2 deficit to win three consecutive frames and take a 4-2 lead. However, he stumbled slightly in the seventh frame during a shot that was reviewed via VAR for a miss on the blue ball, allowing Mark Selby to catch up and level at 4-4.
In the second session, "Moo Paknam" appeared to stall, remaining at 4 frames, while Mark Selby played accurately to pull ahead 8-4. Moo Paknam then rallied to win another frame, reducing the gap to 5-8.
Nevertheless, Mark Selby did not allow a comeback, extending his lead to 9-5. Although Moo Paknam narrowed it to 6-9, Selby ultimately closed out the match 10-6 to claim his fourth title, the highest in this tournament, surpassing Mark Williams of Wales, who won three times.
As for "Moo Paknam," he finished as runner-up, marking his best performance in the China Open after previously reaching the quarterfinals in 2016, earning £100,000 (about 4.45 million baht) in prize money.
*Thanks to images from the World Snooker Tour