SNOOKER
HANIF HASSAN
Thepchaiya Un-nooh shows off his trophy in Korat yesterday. |
Thepchaiya Un-nooh shed his under-achiever tag in style yesterday as he defeated Thai snooker icon Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm 5-2 to lift the Korat Cup at Klang Plaza.
The day ended in dejection for crowd favourite Ratchapol as he failed to cross the final hurdle for the second time this season. Earlier, he had lost to Liu Song China in the first event of this year's Thailand Professional Circuit, which is co-sponsored by CAT Telecom and SangSom.
Thepchaiya, who received the winner's trophy from Dr. Samrerng Yaengkrathot, Chairman of Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Administration Organisation, said: "This easily is the greatest victory of my career, not because it is the first time that I have won a ranking tournament, but because of the way I won it.
"I am sure not many people would have given me a chance of winning against a player of Phi Tong's (Ratchapol's) calibre and stature, but I am glad that I defied the odds and did better than my own expectations."
Thepchaiya, an extremely talented player whose only real claim to prominence so far has been a victory in the 2002 national students championship, had been in a great form in the tournament here.
His brilliance was on show on his very first appearance when he knocked a break of 137 points in the last 16 round.
He went even better in his semi-final against former Asian champion Supoj Seanla, who travels to the United Kingdom in two weeks' time to play on the World Snooker Main Tour. Thepchaiya won the hearts of the local fans with a spectacular clearance of 142, scored in just seven minutes and 10 seconds.
A beaming Thepchaiya left Nakhon Ratchasima with a handsome purse of 100,000 baht for winning the tournament and another 15,000 for scoring the highest break of the tournament. Ratchapol received the runner-up prize of 50,000 baht.
The fifth ranking tournament of the season will take place at the KP Grand Hotel in Chanthaburi on August 4-10.
The three foreign wildcards invited for the event are defending champion Michael Holt (world No. 34); former British Open champion Nigel Bond (No. 23) and Saleh Mohammed of Pakistan.
FINAL FRAME SCORES
Thepchaiya Un-nooh beat Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm 5-2 (43-83, 6-62, 76-1, 77-1, 94-0, 61-52, 60-44)
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