{"article":{"id":"f9a91f58-3bc6-45ae-9596-f1215bada720","slug":"wilson-s-tenth-straight-win-ends-ding-s-top-16-stay-as-fan-awaits-in-nanjing-202","title":"Wilson's tenth straight win ends Ding's top-16 stay as Fan awaits in Nanjing","dek":"Kyren Wilson beat Ding Junhui 6-4 in Nanjing to reach his first International Championship semi-final, extending his winning run to ten matches.","body_md":"## Wilson's winning run rolls into the last four\n\n![File photo of Ding Junhui at the table during an earlier tournament, not the Nanjing quarter-final against Kyren Wilson.](https://api.sportsbriefly.com/storage/v1/object/public/media/api/1793805414236-6ddc31-other-inside1-2026-11-04-evening.jpg)\n\n\nKyren Wilson is not just winning matches in Nanjing. He is winning them like a player who has stopped doubting what comes next. The world number nine beat Ding Junhui 6-4 in the quarter-final of the International Championship on Wednesday, at the South New City National Fitness Centre, to reach the semi-finals of the £825,000 ranking event — his tenth victory in a row, and the furthest he has ever gone in this tournament.\n\nWilson's previous best here was a quarter-final finish in 2024. That barrier is gone, and so is a three-match losing streak against Ding. Before his Northern Ireland Open title, he had not reached a ranking semi-final in more than 18 months; now he has done it in back-to-back events, with a guaranteed minimum of £33,000 here to add to the £100,000 he collected in Belfast.\n\nThe match followed a pattern familiar from Wilson's recent run: an early wobble, a firm response, and a finish delivered without panic. Ding took the opening frame with a break of 99, a reminder of the cue power that made him Chinese snooker's original superstar. Wilson levelled, then moved in front with breaks of 94 and 59, and he reached the mid-session interval leading 3-1.\n\n## Ding's 137 was not enough\n\n![File photo of Fan Zhengyi in action at an earlier tournament, not his Nanjing quarter-final against Hossein Vafaei.](https://api.sportsbriefly.com/storage/v1/object/public/media/api/1793805416504-fets5n-other-inside2-2026-11-04-evening.jpg)\n\n\nThe match threatened to swing immediately after the restart, when Ding compiled a 137, the biggest break of the match, to halve the deficit. He had already escaped twice this week, edging Zhang Anda 6-5 on the final black in the last 32 and beating Stephen Maguire 6-5 on the final pink in the last 16.\n\nIt never quite arrived. The players traded frames across the next four, with Wilson making a 54 in frame eight and Ding keeping his hopes alive in frame nine with the help of a 60. But Wilson closed the match in frame ten with a run of 56. The 6-4 scoreline flatters neither man unfairly: Ding produced the match's finest single visit, yet Wilson produced the steadier snooker across ten frames, and the steadier player won.\n\nWilson had already survived stern examinations this week, coming from 5-3 down against Liam Highfield and needing a deciding frame against Oliver Lines.\n\n## The ranking cost for Ding\n\nFor Ding, the consequences extend well beyond one lost quarter-final. The 15-time ranking-event winner came into the tournament ranked 15th, defending the ranking points he earned by winning this title two years ago. He needed, at minimum, a run to the final to have a chance of staying inside the top 16, and with compatriot Chang Bingyu's run this week, only the trophy would ultimately have been enough.\n\nAt best, Ding will be 23rd in the world when the rankings are revised on Monday. That rewrites the rest of his autumn. Instead of walking straight into the televised stages of the 2026 UK Championship in York, he must navigate two qualifying matches later in November to reach the main draw of an event he has won three times before. The UK Championship is also the final event before January's Masters field is set, so Ding would likely need another York final to reach Alexandra Palace.\n\nChang's progress has already guaranteed him a first-ever place in the top 16, so one Chinese player's rise has coincided with another's fall. Ding's week was full of heart, but heart alone could not carry him past a man in the form of his season.\n\n## Fan stands between Wilson and the final\n\nWilson's semi-final opponent on Thursday will be Fan Zhengyi, the world number 51, who beat Hossein Vafaei 6-3 in the other completed quarter-final on Wednesday. One note on the record: an early schedule listing showed that match as 5-3, but the verified final score is 6-3, and that is the score used here.\n\nFan's route to the last four has been the tournament's quiet surprise. Vafaei took the opening frame and compiled a 118 to lead 2-1, but Fan, who had struck a 111 in frame two, won five of the next six frames to close the match out. It is Fan's second career ranking semi-final and his first since the 2022 European Masters, a tournament he went on to win by beating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final. Earlier in Nanjing he had already ended Judd Trump's tournament with a 6-5 win, so Wilson will not face an opponent short on belief.\n\nThursday's semi-final is the best of 17 frames across two sessions, and it sets up a genuine contrast: Wilson, the form player on a ten-match streak, against an underdog with a history of beating champions on big occasions. The longer format should suit Wilson's steadiness, but it also gives Fan time to settle — and against Trump and Vafaei, he has shown he does not need long.\n\nThe other two quarter-finals, Marco Fu against John Higgins and Chang Bingyu against Zhao Xintong, were still in progress when this article was drafted, so the full semi-final picture was not yet known. The £175,000 top prize, and Saturday's final, are now two wins away for Wilson. Ten wins in a row suggests he will not give up that position cheaply.","cover_url":"https://api.sportsbriefly.com/storage/v1/object/public/media/api/1793805412142-m5al71-other-cover-2026-11-04-evening.jpg","cover_alt":"File photo of Kyren Wilson playing a shot at an earlier tournament, not the Nanjing quarter-final against Ding Junhui.","locale":"en","translation_group_key":"wilson-s-tenth-straight-win-ends-ding-s-top-16-stay-as-fan-awaits-in-nanjing-202","source_locale":null,"published_at":"2026-11-04T15:16:59.297+00:00","updated_at":"2026-11-04T15:16:59.355812+00:00","read_minutes":4,"word_count":905,"tldr":["Kyren Wilson beat Ding Junhui 6-4 in Nanjing to reach his first International Championship semi-final, extending his winning run to ten matches.","Ding's defeat drops him outside the top 16, forcing him into two UK Championship qualifying matches later in November.","Wilson faces world No. 51 Fan Zhengyi, a 6-3 winner over Hossein Vafaei, in Thursday's best-of-17 semi-final.","The other quarter-finals, Marco Fu vs John Higgins and Chang Bingyu vs Zhao Xintong, were still in progress at drafting time."],"key_points":["Kyren Wilson beat Ding Junhui 6-4 in Nanjing to reach his first International Championship semi-final, extending his winning run to ten matches.","Ding's defeat drops him outside the top 16, forcing him into two UK Championship qualifying matches later in November.","Wilson faces world No. 51 Fan Zhengyi, a 6-3 winner over Hossein Vafaei, in Thursday's best-of-17 semi-final.","The other quarter-finals, Marco Fu vs John Higgins and Chang Bingyu vs Zhao Xintong, were still in progress at drafting time."],"entities":["Kyren Wilson","Ding Junhui","Fan Zhengyi","Hossein Vafaei","John Higgins","Marco Fu","Chang Bingyu","Zhao Xintong","Ronnie O'Sullivan","Judd Trump","Stephen Maguire","Zhang Anda","Liam Highfield","Oliver Lines","International Championship","UK Championship","Masters","Northern Ireland Open","European Masters","Alexandra Palace"],"seo_title":"Wilson's 10th straight win ends Ding's top-16 stay","seo_description":"Kyren Wilson beat Ding Junhui 6-4 in Nanjing to reach the International Championship semi-finals, where Fan Zhengyi awaits on Thursday.","gallery":[{"alt":"Wilson's tenth straight win ends Ding's top-16 stay as Fan awaits in Nanjing - inside1","url":"https://api.sportsbriefly.com/storage/v1/object/public/media/api/1793805414236-6ddc31-other-inside1-2026-11-04-evening.jpg"},{"alt":"Wilson's tenth straight win ends Ding's top-16 stay as Fan awaits in Nanjing - inside2","url":"https://api.sportsbriefly.com/storage/v1/object/public/media/api/1793805416504-fets5n-other-inside2-2026-11-04-evening.jpg"}],"video":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.totallysnookered.com/sport/snooker/tournaments/international-championship/2026-international-championship-snooker-wilson-continues-winning-streak-as-ding-loses-top-16-ranking-9329210","name":"totallysnookered.com","note":""},{"url":"https://www.tntsports.co.uk/snooker/international-championship/2026/scores-results-schedule-defending-champion-wu-yize-china_sto23350723/story.shtml","name":"tntsports.co.uk","note":""},{"url":"https://snookerhq.com/2026/11/04/ding-junhui-chang-bingyu-uk-championship-qualifiers-seeding/","name":"snookerhq.com","note":""}],"category":{"name":"Other Sports","slug":"other","accent_color":"#06B6D4"},"author":null,"alternate_locales":[{"locale":"en","title":"Wilson's tenth straight win ends Ding's top-16 stay as Fan awaits in Nanjing","slug":"wilson-s-tenth-straight-win-ends-ding-s-top-16-stay-as-fan-awaits-in-nanjing-202","url":"https://sportsbriefly.com/en/other/wilson-s-tenth-straight-win-ends-ding-s-top-16-stay-as-fan-awaits-in-nanjing-202"}]}}