Marco Fu won his first title carrying ranking points since the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open by defeating Michael White 4-1 in the final of the Dafabet Gibraltar Open at the Tercentenary Sports Hall.

The world number 14 won three successive frames from 1-1 to win the €25,000 top prize at the penultimate event of this season’s Kreativ Dental Clinic European Tour. Fu had lost his previous two finals in European Tour events, but was never behind against opponent White in Gibraltar.

Victory for Fu ensures that he will qualify to play at this season’s Players Championship event, which will be held at Manchester’s Event City for the first time next March.

The two-time ranking event winner recently made it to the quarter-finals of the International Championship and the same stage of the Betway UK Championship in York to confirm his place at next month’s Dafabet Masters. Fu also made his fourth career maximum break earlier this week to earn an additional £3,500 from the rolling prize.

The first two frames of the final were shared before Fu claimed the next three with a top break of 140 in frame four. White, who was appearing in his first Kreativ Dental Clinic European Tour final, had chances to take a lead in the third frame but was unable to take advantage and Fu closed out victory.

“It’s great, I’ve heard a lot about Gibraltar in the past but this is the first time I have been here and it is absolutely beautiful,” said Fu. “It’s always nice to be able to take part in a big tournament like this in a new place because we get to see the city and play snooker as well.

“Winning it is like a dream come true. This is my first European Tour title and it is in Gibraltar so I will be back.”

The Kreativ Dental Clinic European Tour is a series of six events across the continent, with the top 24 on the final Order of Merit to qualify for the Players Championship in Manchester. The sixth and final event is the Gdynia Open from February 24-28.

Results (last 16 onwards)

Last 16
Liang Wenbo 4-3 Mark Selby
David Grace 4-2 Peter Ebdon
Dominic Dale 4-3 Kyren Wilson
Marco Fu 4-2 Luca Brecel
Alfie Burden 4-2 Oliver Lines
Michael White 4-3 Andrew Higginson
Mark King 4-2 Ricky Walden
Stuart Bingham 4-0 Nigel Bond

Quarter-finals
Liang Wenbo 4-1 David Grace
Marco Fu 4-1 Dominic Dale
Michael White 4-2 Alfie Burden
Stuart Bingham 4-1 Mark King

Semi-finals
Marco Fu 4-0 Liang Wenbo
Michael White 4-0 Stuart Bingham

Final
Marco Fu 4-1 Michael White