Chinese billiard players Shi Hanqing and Chen Siming had captured the 2016 Chinese Billiard World Championship Men's and Woman's titles respectively in a tournament held in Yushan, Jiangxi Province in China last Saturday.

China's no. 3 ranked Shi nipped Englishman Mick Hill in the race-to-21 final of the said event with an extremely close 21-20 win to claim the Men's division title while Chen turned back the challenge of former World Ladies' Snooker Champion Kelly Fisher, 17-11, to earn the Women's division crown in a race-to-17 affair, as reported by Xinhuanet.

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The final matches of both divisions were held in two separate sessions each.

Hill actually led at the end of the first 24-rack session, 13-11, after Shi built an 11-10 lead going into the final three racks of the round, which the reigning English 8-Ball Champion had swept. It was a nip-and-tuck affair for both men in the first session and it continued to happen in the second session as well.

Hill extended his lead to three racks early in the second session, 15-12, but the 25-year-old Chinese got into the groove and pulled off a 4-1 rack run to level things up at 16-16. Shi eventually grabbed the lead at 17-16 after a lengthy "tactical safety battle" that extended up to 29 minutes where he prevailed, as per AZ Billiards.

The two men won one rack after another to reach a 20-20 tie as it came down to one final rack to decide the champion of the said category. Shi "calmly ran out" the last rack after Hill shot another dry break to the applause of the crowd.

Meanwhile, Chen finished the first session of the women's division with a four-rack lead, 11-7, as Fisher struggled in making balls on the break while the 22-year-old had consistently made them.

Chen opened the second session strongly, padding her lead to up to six racks, 15-9. Fisher made a brief comeback, winning the next two racks to cut the lead down to four, 15-11, but Chen shook off the nerves to sweep the ensuing two and win the final, 17-11.

TagsChina sports, China billiards, 2016 Chinese Billiard World Championship, Shi Hanqing, Chen Siming, Mick Hill, Kelly Fisher