Glory for home hero Bai Yulu as she wins back-to-back World Women's Snooker Championship titles

The 21-year-old cueist becomes the first player since Reanne Evans in 2006 to successfully defend the blue riband title at their first attempt, having been the first mainland Chinese winner of the prestigious crown, last year.

After five different winners from the five most recent editions of the tournament, Bai is the first player to retain the title since Ng On Yee did so in 2018.

The mouth-watering final between the trophy holder and currently the most consistent player on the World Women’s Snooker Tour was a rerun of their epic 2024 title decider that Bai memorably won in a deciding frame on the final pink.

All signs pointed to yet another close affair, and - despite a relatively protracted spectacle at times - fans were treated to copious amounts of drama throughout the showpiece tie, with several frames going down to the colours.

In a contest where both players where aiming to join an elite club of multiple-time winners of this title, there was tension right from the off as Bai pinched the opening frame on the final black with a cool counter clearance of 33 after Mink missed the final red that would have left her opponent needing penalty points.

However, the 2022 champion bounced back from that early disappointment, winning frame two to nil, and then taking frame three on the final pink after Bai had battled back from over 50 points behind.

The 25-year-old from Thailand then extended her lead, as she calmly potted brown to black in frame four to go into the mid-session interval 3-1 ahead.

On resumption, there was yet another thrilling climax on the colours, as Bai - winner of the World Snooker Tour’s Rookie of the Year award a few weeks ago for her efforts on the professional circuit - recovered from 48 points adrift to take it on the final pink and reduce her arrears to one frame.

Mink re-established her two-frame cushion and moved closer to the trophy as a break of 55 in frame six helped her in going 4-2 up, however, that would be the last frame she deposited during the contest.

Bai crucially won frame seven before restoring parity at 4-4 by chalking up the eighth on the colours. She then made it three in-a-row with frame nine to go 5-4 in front and move one away from glory.

In context with the rest of the match, though, Bai’s path to a second world crown would be far from straightforward.

When looking like the Chinese ace was comfortably establishing an advantage in frame 10 with several balls out in the open, she was slightly unfortunate to see the cueball go in-off after brushing the blue ball having potted a red. However, Bai had received a slice of luck in the previous frame when she fluked a black ball in the middle of a break having initially missed it.

Mink subsequently closed the points gap and there was barely anything between the players as yet another frame went to the colours.

After a poor safety attempt from Mink, Bai potted the green off a side cushion having been seemingly snookered but then missed a mid-distance brown. Mink sank the brown to level the scores, but then missed the blue.

Needing two consecutive pots for victory, Bai dealt with the blue but rattled championship ball pink, although she got away with it by not leaving it on for a pot.

Another poor safety from Mink left the pink near the yellow pocket, but Bai was faced with a thin cut from long distance, with the cueball potentially out of control. With all those factors, Bai ended up missing the pink altogether and shifting the upper hand to her opponent.

But there was even more drama to come. Now one point in front following the penalty points she received, Mink came to the table to face a similar shot on the pink. She potted it, but the cueball travelled directly into a middle pocket.

With the pink re-spotted, reigning champion Bai approached the table five points up and with cueball in hand, needing just the pink for glory. She placed the white in the ‘d’ and coolly cut the pink into the black pocket much to the delight of the vocal, partisan crowd in attendance.

On her way to back-to-back world title triumphs, Bai topped her round robin group with the loss of just one frame before eliminating 16-year-olds Liu Zi Ling (China) and Panchaya Channoi (Thailand) in the early knockout rounds.

Bai dispatched former three-time champion On Yee (Hong Kong) - the first Asian winner of this crown, in 2015 - 4-2 in the quarter-finals, and then defeated Xia Yuyin (China) 5-0 in the last four.

The final event stop of the 2024/25 World Women’s Snooker Tour season, Bai ends the campaign with two titles having won the UK Championship in Leeds last September.

Mink will likely be frustrated having come so close again to a second world title - she has now appeared in the final in four of the last five editions - but the Thai exponent will finish the term as the world number one. Mink has been super consistent on the women’s circuit this season, reaching the final of the last six events, and lifting trophies in Australia and Morocco.

For the results from the 2025 World Women’s Snooker Championship, visit snookerscores.net here