Bai Yulu became the third successive first-time winner of the World Women's Snooker Championship
China's Bai Yulu claimed her maiden World Women's Snooker Championship title as she beat world number one Mink Nutcharut in a thrilling final.
The 20-year-old triumphed 6-5 after winning the deciding frame on the final pink in Dongguan Changping, China.
Having lost in the 2023 final, Bai went one better to earn a spot on the World Snooker Tour for the first time in her career.
Nutcharut, champion in 2022, had not dropped a frame prior to the final.
But Bai, who beat England's 12-time winner Reanne Evans 5-3 in her semi-final, ended that streak and went 3-1 up with a tournament-high break of 122.
Thailand's Nutcharut hit back to win the next three frames, only for Bai to respond and move 5-4 ahead thanks to breaks of 97 and 75.
After Nutcharut levelled again, the deciding frame was in the balance at 46-43 to the former champion before she let Bai in to pot the brown and the blue.
She clinched victory on the pink to become the tournament's first winner from mainland China.
Bai Yulu is one of the world's top women snooker players and the Chinese youngster is set to compete on the sport's professional circuit for the first time during the 2024/25 season.
Born on July 10, 2003, Bai's snooker journey began when she was 10 years old. Her father was a big fan of the sport and they used to play on a small table in their house. It has been reported that Bai was allowed to skip school in order to practice her skills. She lists Stephen Hendry as her favourite player.
A first international accolade was secured in 2019 when, as a 16-year-old, Bai won the IBSF World Women's Under-21 Championship in China.
The Covid-19 Pandemic hampered Bai's progress on the global scene, but 2023 was a big breakthrough year for her as she began to enter events on the World Women's Snooker Tour - the sport's premier circuit for women players.
In her first senior WWST tournament, Bai wrote several headlines as she reached the final of the 2023 World Women's Snooker Championship in Bangkok, Thailand. The teenager instantly impressed, producing a 127 during the blue riband event - the highest break ever made in the tournament's long history, surpassing the 125 Kelly Fisher constructed two decades earlier.
Bai defeated defending champion Mink Nutcharut, former women's world number one Maria Catalano, and record 12-time world women's champion Reanne Evans en route to the title match, although she fell just short of the top prize when Thailand's Baipat Siripaporn got the better of her 6-3 in the final.
Only a few weeks later, though, Bai secured her first ranking title on the Tour at the British Open in England when she ousted Reanne Evans 4-3 in the final. Later in the year, Bai was the runner-up at the UK Women's Championship.
Elsewhere in 2023, Bai won the Asian Women's Championship and the IBSF World Women's Snooker Championship, both in Doha, Qatar.
The exciting prospect also took part in Q School in England and proved she could already mix it with the world's top male amateur players with several victories and fine performances.
The biggest moment of Bai's young career arrived in March 2024 at the WWST World Women's Snooker Championship on home soil in Dongguan; Bai had moved there from Weinan with her parents when younger.
Bai Yulu won the WWST World Women's Snooker Championship
Bai secured the under-21 championship early on in the multi-event festival and completed a spectacular double a few days later in the main event.
Having come back from 3-0 down to deny Evans 5-3 in the last four, Bai dramatically pipped Nutcharut on the final pink in the deciding frame to win the top title in women's snooker for the first time. She became the 15th different winner of the championship and the first from mainland China.
During the title match, Bai compiled an effort of 122 - setting a new record for the highest break in a WWST World Women's Snooker Championship final.
More history for Bai was the fact that no-one had ever won both the WWST's under-21 and main world championships within the same year.
Victory in the Championship - a pathway qualification event for the World Snooker Tour - means that Bai earned a two-year card for the sport's professional circuit for the first time.
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