This was the second 6-red world crown for the Chinese star who has slipped to No.24 in the current world rankings, reports the Bangkok Post.
Thepchaiya was also seeking a second victory in the tournament, which was sanctioned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, after his triumph in 2015.
Ding received the prestigious winner’s trophy graciously donated by His Majesty the King and B4.2 million in prize money for his victory at the Convention Centre of Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus in Pathum Thani.
Thepchaiya collected a sum of B1.35mn for finishing runner-up.
Ding admitted after the match that luck was on his side in the final.
“There were many Thepchaiya fans at the venue and that put me under a lot pressure in the beginning,” said Ding, a three-time winner of the UK Championship.
“However, the balls favoured me most of the time so I relaxed, hoping that my luck would see me through.
“I was also lucky that Thepchaiya missed the black in the 14th frame otherwise it would have been 7-7 and the match could have gone either way after that.”
The Thai world No.45, who entered the final after a thrilling 7-6 come-from-behind win over Iran’s Hossein Vafaei on Friday, was never able to get into the rhythm in the best-of-15 frames final.
Thepchaiya threatened to kick-start a rally and overtake Ding several times during the course of the clash but the Chinese was able to wrest back the upper hand on every occasion.
The only time Thepchaiya was able to get level with Ding was at 2-2 and that was after the Chinese had produced breaks of 72 and 71 in the first two frames.
Ding then pinched three frames in a row to open a 5-2 gap and eventually Thepchaiya, a 37-year-old from Nakhon Nayok, was able to narrow the deficit to 7-6.
He could have evened the frame score but missed a crucial black, allowing Ding to steal the frame and the title.
A total of eight Thai players took part in the 11-million-baht tournament with four of them - 2022 women’s world champion Nutcharat Wongharuethai, Poramin Danjirakul, Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn and Akani Songsermsawad - failing to make it past the first stage.
Wattana Phu-Ob-Orm, Noppon Saengkham and Dechawat Poomjaeng were eliminated in the last-16 stage which ended on Thursday.
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