Shaoshuai Li Stops the Steamroll to Claim APPT National Title for KRW 64 Million

China ‘s Shaoshuai Li has won the APPT National event at APPT Korea 2026 , coming from behind to defeat Xueying Zhao heads-up at Paradise City Incheon and claim the top prize of KRW 64,100,000 (~USD 47,242), the APPT Shard trophy, and an APPT Manila Championship package.

Li outlasted a 332-entry field across four days of play, adding another significant result to a resume that according to The Hendon Mob already includes more than $300,000 in recorded live earnings.

Li Claims the Title

Li entered the final day as an average stack, sitting third with 1,655,000 behind chip leader Zhao and Ka Chun Yuan . Zhao had dominated for much of Day 2 and the early stages of the final day, and looked ready to run away with the title.

The pivotal moment came three-handed. Zhao opened the button, Li three-bet, and Zhao four-bet jammed, only to be snap-called by Li, who had woken up with pocket aces against her ace-eight. The hand held, the chip lead swung, and Li never relinquished it.

Speaking through a translator after his victory, Li said he was happy to win the title.

When asked about the moment he took the chip lead, he said he knew from that point he would win. Having played with Zhao over the previous days, he had developed a clear understanding of her playing style and felt confident in his ability to outmanoeuvre her when it mattered.

As for being at APPT Korea at all, Li revealed he had originally planned to travel to Cyprus , but his friends persuaded him to come to Incheon instead.

Final Table Result

#22 APPT National (1,200,000 KRW)

Total Prize USD

$253,360

Total Prize

344.2M KRW

Guaranteed

250M KRW

Entries

332

ITM

48

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₩64,100,000 $47,242	SL Shaoshuai Li China	1,665.08
2	₩41,500,000 $30,586	XZ Xueying Zhao China	1,177.39
3	₩28,470,000 $20,982	KK Kento Kinoshita Japan	961.34
4	₩22,190,000 $16,354	KC Ka Chun Yuan Hong Kong	832.54
5	₩17,510,000 $12,905	CY Chun Yu Ma Hong Kong	744.65
6	₩13,470,000 $9,927	CT Chao Ting Cheng Taiwan	679.77
7	₩10,790,000 $7,952	RE Ryoya Enomoto Japan	629.34
8	₩9,000,000 $6,633	ML Maxim Lykov Russia	588.70
9	₩7,497,000 $5,525	SH Saki Hayashi Japan	555.03

Check the 48 Payouts & Results ...

Day 2: Zhao Takes Control

The day began with 48 players all guaranteed a min-cash of KRW 2,000,000 (~USD 1,475), and the field moved quickly. Yuan opened proceedings by eliminating Chien Chih Weng early, his ace-king making a river flush against Weng’s pocket sixes.

Shaoshuai Li built steadily through the middle stages, taking down a sizeable pot with pocket nines, while Maxim Lykov provided one of the day’s more memorable hands, rivering quads with pocket fours against Ryoya Enomoto‘s pocket nines.

Zhao, meanwhile, was building relentlessly. She drilled an eight on the river to make a set and eliminate Alexandr Kan, and then sent Nayoung Kim to the rail on the final table bubble, calling Kim’s king-nine shove with ace-six and catching an ace on the flop.

The Final Table

The final table opened with Saki Hayashi moving her short stack in with jack-seven and failing to improve against Zhao’s ace-ten, extending the Chinese player’s lead still further.

Lykov followed in eighth after open-jamming jack-ten suited into Yuan’s pocket queens, and the day closed when Yuan’s pocket sevens improved to a full house on the river to send Enomoto out in seventh.

Zhao ended Day 2 with 3,425,000 in chips, more than double her nearest rival, and was very much in the driving seat.

Final Day: Li Stops the Steamroll

Zhao picked up right where she had left off on the final day. Chao Ting Cheng was the first to fall in sixth, calling off with a flush only to find Zhao had flopped a full house, leaving him drawing dead from virtually the start.

Chun Yu Ma then exited in fifth, his king-five no match for Li’s pocket fours, which flopped a set and improved to a full house to send him to the rail.

Ka Chun Yuan fell in fourth after Zhao applied relentless pressure across three streets before tabling two pair on the river, and with Li struggling to get much going, Zhao held around two-thirds of the chips with three players remaining.

The tournament’s defining hand arrived shortly after. Zhao four-bet jammed and ran straight into Li’s pocket aces, finding no help on the runout. In one hand, Zhao’s entire momentum halted, and Li vaulted into the chip lead.

Kento Kinoshita fell in third shortly after failing to overcome Zhao’s pocket deuces, which held to set up heads-up between the two Chinese players.

Heads-Up

Li began heads-up with a significant lead and extended it almost immediately, flopping a flush with ace-four of hearts and extracting around a million from Zhao on the river to push his advantage to around 4:1 in chips.

The final hand came soon after. Zhao led three streets holding king-jack for top two pair, only to face a river jam from Li, who had flopped the nut flush with ace-four of diamonds. Zhao called and was eliminated in second place for KRW 41,500,000 (~USD 30,586) plus an APPT Korea Main Event seat.

Somuchpoker‘s live coverage of APPT Korea continues with the Main Event , which is now underway.

Follow Us