Marco Fu admitted his relief at winning his first ranking title in six years and has now set his sights on regaining his place in top 16.
The world number 18 defeated home favourite Neil Robertson 9-6 to win the Australian Goldfields Open in Bendigo and take the prize money of 70,000 Australian dollars (£42,103).
The defeat was a blow to Robertson, who has made it a career ambition to win a tournament on home soil, but Fu was a worthy winner.
Fu’s last victory in a ranked event came in the 2007 Grand Prix and the win Down Under will represent a huge step forward as he looks to get back into the top 16.
“I had a good season last year and played some good snooker, but it was frustrating not to win a title,” he revealed.
“This takes a lot of pressure off me and I can enjoy the rest of the season. The standard is so high now that it’s just very nice to be able to win a tournament.”
He added: “Neil and I played the best snooker throughout the week, although today it didn’t really happen for us. We both got a bit tired towards the end, and twitchy here and there.
“It’s very tough against Neil because he’s world number one and even though he wasn’t at his best, he played some good safety.
“I’m just very pleased that I made a good break in the end to win. There was so much drama throughout the whole match. A lot of frames could have gone either way.”
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