Stuart Bingham made a superb start to the season by winning Guotai Liqueur Asian Players Tour Championship event one in Zhangjiagang, China.
World No 16 Bingham beat Stephen Lee 4-3 in an exciting final to take the £10,000 top prize in the new event. He won five matches in the tournament overall.
There are three new Asian PTC events this season, which form part of the overall PTC series. By winning the first event, Bingham already is assured of a place in the Grand Finals next March.
The 35-year-old from Basildon took the opening frame with a break of 51 before Wiltshire's Lee won the next two. Bingham levelled with a 67 then Lee, who won the PTC Grand Finals last season, went 3-2 up with a run of 87.
Bingham knocked in a 63 to force the decider, then won a thrilling last frame by clearing blue, pink and black for victory.
It has been a sensational start to the season for Bingham as he also won the Pink Ribbon pro-am in Gloucester earlier this month. He won his breakthrough major title at last season's Australian Goldfields Open and now seems determined to boost his haul of trophies. The tour stays in China for the first full ranking event of the season, the Wuxi Classic, which starts on Monday, then it's on to Australia where Bingham will be defending the title.
"Last year I started the season well then fell away, but this time I want to keep the form going," he said. "I came out here for the three events just aiming to win one of them, and I've got a trophy already so anything else is a bonus. I'm full of conficence now and I want to do well in the next two events.
"It's great to already have a place guaranteed in the PTC Grand Finals because I missed it last year. But I'll probably still play in all the other PTC events because I'm the type to go anywhere and play in anything."
Earlier, Bingham beat Michael White 4-2 in the semi-finals with top breaks of 74, 78 and 117, while Lee saw off China's Chen Zhe 4-2 with a top run of 100.
Results (last 16 onwards)
Last 16
Ben Woollaston 4-2 Cao Kaisheng
Li Yuan 1-4 Zhang Anda
Stuart Bingham 4-0 Lin Shuai
Chen Zhe 4-3 Tom Ford
Mark Williams 1-4 Michael White
Robert Milkins 3-4 Ding Junhui
Stephen Lee 4-3 Zhao Xintong
Tian Pengfei 4-1 Mei Xiwen
Quarter-finals
Michael White 4-3 Zhang Anda
Stuart Bingham 4-3 Ding Junhui
Stephen Lee 4-2 Tian Pengfei
Chen Zhe 4-0 Ben Woollaston
Semi-finals
Michael White 2-4 Stuart Bingham
Chen Zhe 2-4 Stephen Lee
Final
Stuart Bingham 4-3 Stephen Lee
Brilliant Bingham Wins Asian PTC
June 22, 2012