The 24-year-old Chinese ace defeated compatriot Zhao Xintong, 10-7, in the biggest match of his life to become the 83rd different player to win a ranking title on snooker’s top tier, and the tenth from his country.
In a contest between this season’s top two century break-makers on the World Snooker Tour, many would have expected a high-scoring bonanza. However – perhaps down to a slightly less reactive table – not a single ton was registered, although there was no shortage of drama and excitement as several frames went very close and produced standout moments, including in the last when Chang won the title having needed a snooker and producing one of the greatest clearances you’ll ever see on the colours.
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Zhao deposited the opening frame with a 76 before doubling his lead in the second. But world number 45 Chang – appearing in his second ranking final after losing 9-2 at last December’s Scottish Open – settled down with a 76 in the third before levelling up at 2-2 heading into the first mid-session interval.
On resumption, Chang was on the cusp of nudging in front before 2025 World Champion Zhao conjured up a brilliant counter clearance with the six remaining reds to pinch it on the final black with a 64.
Back came Chang for 3-3, but incoming world number one Zhao edged in front again, courtesy of an 83.
However, Chang – who had to win two qualifying matches held in Leicester earlier this summer to reach these televised stages – squared up for the third time after a run of 67, before fashioning a stunning counter clearance of his own in the final frame of the afternoon session, punishing his opponent for missing a golden chance with a 53 to steal it on the black and lead for the first time at 5-4.
When the cueists returned a few hours later, momentum stayed with Chang into the evening act as breaks of 62 and 56 helped him make it four in-a-row for 7-4 before another big turning point in frame 12.
Essentially within a ball of making it 8-4, Chang missed a fiddly black, later leading to Zhao creaming a sensational long green – having initially been disturbed by something in the arena on his shot – and clearing to reduce his arrears.
Zhao then made it 7-6 following a contribution of 60 before breathing a huge sigh of relief after a chaotic 14th to level.
Yet another frame that went down to the colours, Zhao potted a brilliant green that seemingly paved his way, although he then unexpectedly missed a fairly routine frame-ball brown.
With the brown hanging deep in the jaws, Chang elected to play cushion first for position, but ended up missing the ball altogether. Zhao then had the simplest of pots that virtually made it 7-7.
With his head surely spinning – it wasn’t long ago he was about to go 8-4 up, now it was 7-7 – Chang managed to compose himself for the final stage of this compelling final, starting with a morale-boosting 73 to oust back ahead.
Chang then yielded the rewards of laying a snooker on the final red in frame 16, going on to take it on the final pink to stand on the cusp of victory at 9-7.
You don’t get to world number one without being able to scrap, though, and an out-of-sorts Zhao did just that in frame 17, leaving his opponent needing a snooker.
However, Chang successfully laid a snooker on the final red that Zhao failed to escape from, before conjuring up an outrageous clearance under extreme pressure that needs to be seen to be believed.
As the world number 45 heading into this week’s action at the Optics Valley Gymnasium, Chang becomes one of the lowest ranked players to win a ranking title, but this triumph is far from unexpected with many pundits and fans tipping Chang for success in recent times.
Since returning to the professional ranks last season after his ban for his role in the Chinese player match-fixing scandal that broke in the 2022/23 term, Chang has produced a plethora of incredible performances, such as making three maximum 147 breaks within eight months, and a memorable display at the Welsh Open that received a standing ovation when finishing with a 100% pot success rate.
Throughout this competition, Chang has won all his matches by at least three frames, dispatching Judd Trump, 5-1, in the quarter-finals and Ronnie O’Sullivan, 6-3, in the semis.
The £175,000 top prize he banks pushes him up to 22nd in the revised world rankings, and he is within touching distance of the elite top 16.
Both Chang and Zhao are scheduled to be in Cheltenham, England next week for the 2026 British Open.
To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 Wuhan Open snooker, visit our tournament information centre here.
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