Thailand’s Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan has defeated Bai Yulu of China 6-3 to win the World Women’s Snooker Championship for the first time at the Hi-End Snooker Club in Bangkok.
The victory ensures that Nuanthakhamjan will join the professional World Snooker Tour from the start of the 2023/24 season.
The historic 40th staging of the World Women’s Snooker Championship saw the event return to the Hi-End Snooker Club in Bangkok for the first time since 2019, with an all-star field which featured 17 of the world’s top 20 ranked players.
Following a dramatic four days which saw a shock last 16 defeat for three-time world champion Ng On Yee at ther last 16 stage, as well as semi-final exits for the world’s top two ranked players Mink Nutcharut and Reanne Evans, it was Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan and Bai Yulu who progressed to only the second ever all-Asian final in the history of the tournament (2017).
Competing in her debut World Women’s Snooker (WWS) Tour event, 19-year-old Bai had already made headlines following her record-breaking 127 in the group stage, before she came back from 3-1 down to defeat 12-time champion Evans in what had been an eagerly anticipated semi-final clash.
For Nuanthakhamjan, having defeated five-time finalist Maria Catalano to top her group, she overcame world number five Jamie Hunter, Bayarsaikhan Narantuya of Mongolia and defending champion Nutcharut 5-2 to reach the title match.
It was Bai who made the early running as she led 2-0 and then 3-2 at the mid-session interval. Crucially, however, it was the Thai star Nuanthakhamjan who claimed frames three and six – both with pressure pots on the final black – to remain in contention.
After she took the seventh frame to lead the best of 11 frame contest for the first time, the momentum was in her favour and she finished strongly by adding the following two frames to seal a career-best victory and a place on the professional circuit for the first time.
The victory sees Nuanthakhamjan become only the 14th different winner of the tournament during its history, the third from Asia and only the second from Thailand following Mink Nutcharut’s success a year ago.
Having played snooker since the age of 14, Nuanthakhamjan made her WWS Tour debut at the 2017 World Championship in Singapore where she reached the quarter-finals, before reaching the semi-finals two years later at Hi-End. She is also a former Women’s Snooker World Cup winner and finalist at the mixed-gender Thai national championships.
It was not until April 2022 that she began to compete on the WWS Tour full-time and her victory in Bangkok will now see her enter the world’s top 10 for the first time at number nine.
Victories for Ramachandran and Talbot-Deegan
Alongside the main World Championship, the five-day event also saw the latest staging of the World Women’s Under-21 and Seniors Championships, with a new winner crowned in each competition.
India’s Anupama Ramachanran capped a week to remember as just days on from her victory at the Women’s Snooker World Cup, the Chennai cueist ended the reign of two-time defending champion Ploychompoo Laokiatphong with a 3-2 victory in the Under-21 competition.
The 20-year-old had already accounted for Sophie Nix, Saravalee Songsermsawad and Bai Yulu to reach the final, before she came back from 1-2 down to end Laokiatphong’s bid for a hat-trick of junior world titles.
There was also a maiden victory for England’s Mary Talbot-Deegan in the Seniors Championship as she defeated 2017 World Championship finalist Vidya Pillai 3-1 in the final.
Competing in the event for the first time, 42-year-old Talbot-Deegan reached the final with victories against Altangerel Bolortuya of Mongolia and India’s Pooja Galundia, while Pillai accounted for defending champion Tessa Davidson and former world number one Maria Catalano to reach the title match.
The opening frames were shared as Pillai top scored with a run of 59 in the second frame, but it was to be Talbot-Deegan who would not be denied as she won the following two frames to claim her maiden world title and second Seniors crown in total.
Finally, there was also victory for India’s Amee Kamani in the final of the Challenge Cup, for players who did not reach the last 16 of the main competition. She defeated Waratthanun Sukritthanes of Thailand 3-2 in the final and also compiled the highest break of the Challenge with a run of 71.
World Women’s Snooker would like to thank all of our partners who helped to make the tournament possible, including the Billiard Sports Association of Thailand and Hi-End Snooker Club.
There is one event remaining of the 2022/23 season as the Tour returns to the UK for the staging of the British Open at the Landywood Snooker Club from 13-14 May.
Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan, like many Thai players, uses a shorter name and she wants to be named Baipat.
From what I was able to watch, the final itself was not the highest quality. It was a very long match and both players were clearly under pressure. The tactical play was quite good, but their break-building deserted them a bit…
This event was probably the most talked about Women Snooker event ever. The fans were able to watch a lot of matches and discover very interesting players they very rarely get the opportunity to see and appreciate.
Snooker is very big in Mongolia, but their players rarely have the means to travel far. This event allowed a number of their female players to show their talent.
Bai Yulu impressed, as I expected. She didn’t perform at her best in the final. Maybe pressure got at her, or maybe a bit of fatigue (she also played in the Junior event). She’s only 19. I hope that she will be allowed to travel to Europe if she gets invitations in events. She is certainly a very promising talent. She had finished top of her group, ahead of Mink who she beat at that stage, and she beat Reanne Evans by 5-3 in the semi-finals of the main event. Reanne had only lost two frames in the previous rounds.
Prior to the main individual event, a number of teams competed in the World Cup. That event also brought a big surprise as “Team India” beat “Team England A”. Team England A was Reanne Evans and Rebecca Kenna, both main tour players.
Team India A have defeated England A 4-3 following a thrilling match to win the 2023 Women’s Snooker World Cup at the Hi-End Snooker Club in Bangkok, Thailand.
Represented by Amee Kamani and Anupama Ramachandran, the leading team from India emerged successful from a knockout draw which saw them overcome Thailand C and Thailand A to reach the final, before they toppled the team that featured two of the world’s top four players to claim a famous victory. All three knockout wins were earned following deciding-frames as they succeeded Waratthanun Sukritthanes and Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan as champions.
Both unranked on the Tour coming into the tournament, Kamani and Ramachandran exhibited both skill and determinaton as they overcame established players on the World Women’s Snooker Tour including world champion Mink Nutcharut, 12-time world champion Reanne Evans and current world number four Rebecca Kenna to lift the title.
In the final it was India who claimed the opening two frames against Evans and Kenna to earn the early advantage, before the English duo claimed the doubles frames and subsequently drew level at 2-2.
The following two frames were again shared with a telling snooker from Evans enough to earn the opportunity for Kenna to pot blue and pink and force what would prove to be a nail-biting deciding frame.
With Kenna up against Kamani in the decisive battle, it was Kamani who would gain the upper hand for Team India, only for a valiant effort from Kenna to chase – and in many cases lay – successful snookers, meaning that the outcome remained in doubt until the final moments.
Ultimately, it was Kamani who would pot the final balls required to earn what was to prove an emotional victory for the India as the pair revealed after the match.
“It feels amazing because I started playing snooker back in 2011 and this is my first world title,” said Kamani. “It feels like magic and all the hard work that I have done has paid off today and this is just the start. I just want to keep winning every world title, that is what I look up to, but for now I am super happy and proud because I have made my nation India proud.
“I think the biggest thrill for a sportsperson is the tricolour, the national flag going high and the national anthem in the background, I think that is the biggest thrill that we play for in India and I have made my nation proud by winning this world title. It feels amazing, I can’t even express it in words, but I think it is a prestigious world title for my country.”
Teammate Ramachandran added: “I am really happy because this has been my first tournament with World Women’s Snooker and the first couple of days I was finding it really hard to adjust to the tables, it was like a completely new environment for me but I just wanted to enjoy what I was doing on the table and not thinking too much about whether I win or lose. I was going shot by shot and that really helped. I have no words!”
Kamani also revealed that the feat was to be even more remarkable as the pair only decided to enter the team event shortly before the entry deadline, looking to gain valuable match practice ahead of the start of the upcoming World Championship at the same venue.
“I think it’s an irony that we decided to pair up at the last moment. Just before we booked our tickets, she [Ramachandran] called me and said let’s play!
“We do not play on XingPai tables, this is our first time and I think we have done amazingly well. Beating Thailand and England one by one makes it more important for us and special to win because we have beaten the top players of the world and then reached the number one place.”
This of course is a reminder that snooker is also big in India and the country has very talented players. I met and spoke to the likes of Pankaj Adjani, Lucky Vatnani and Aditya Mehta when taking pictures on tour. One aspect that was rarely talked about is how homesick they all were. Living as expats, away from their family, in a completely different culture – with a completely different food culture – is something they found difficult. That was the main reason for Pankaj Advani to quit the main tour. Some fans branded him “a quitter” but the man had nothing to prove and he was extremely unhappy. Why should he put himself through it?
Baipat has been offered a tour card. Should she take it, one other tour card remains for the grabs and will go to the highest Women Snooker ranked player, not already on tour at the end of the season. That is currently Reanne Evans, but she is not safe yet as there is still one event counting and On Yee could still get ahead of her. Again, I question the UK centric organisation of the sport here. With most events played in the UK, many of the very talented Asian players that we have seen over the last week have no chance to get high enough in the rankings because they simply can’t afford to travel to the UK each time, nor to live in the UK as ex-pats.
And finally a big bravo to the the Hi-End Snooker Club in Bangkokand to Gappa Gappafor being fantastic hosts!
2023 Championship League Snooker Invitational – John Higgins is the winner again
John Higgins won the Invitational 2023 Championship League, earning his place in the 2023 Champion of Champions. It’s the fourth time that John wins this event. He actually has now won four of the last seven instalments played under the traditional format.
John Higgins won the 2023 BetVictor Championship League Invitational, beating Judd Trump 3-1 in the final at the Morningside Arena, Leicester live on Matchroom.Live, Viaplay, DAZN and broadcasters worldwide.
The Wizard of Wishaw won the event for a second consecutive year and earned a place in the 2023 Champion of Champions, to take place in November.
In the final, he made a break of 62 in taking the opening frame before Trump levelled with a run of 100, career century number 899. But Higgins regained the lead with a 78 then got the better of a scrappy fourth frame to secure his first title since winning the same event 12 months ago.
“It feels amazing,” said the 47-year-old Scot, who won a total of £26,500 from the tournament. “I played really well the last couple of days, I was delighted with the way I hit the ball. It’s a big tournament in its own right now. It gets you into the Champion of Champions. It’s brilliant to win it and hopefully, it can give me a bit of confidence. I got some work done to my cue, but I am going back to my roots with same size of cue. It seemed to work. It’s given me confidence. It’s all about confidence this game.”
Earlier, in a dramatic semi-final, Kyren Wilson took a 2-0 lead over Higgins with breaks of 137 and 85, only for the four time World Champion to hit back with 86, 61 and 66 to win 3-2. Trump eased to a 3-0 success over Neil Robertson.
The 2023 Champion of Champions is set to take place at the Bolton Stadium Hotel, University of Bolton Stadium from November 13-19.
Xiao Guodong came from 2-0 down to beat compatriot Lyu Haotian 3-2 in the final of Group Seven, booking his spot in Winners’ Group at the BetVictor Championship League Snooker.
China’s Xiao crucially won his last round-robin match 3-1 against Matthew Selt, which got him into the semi-finals. He then beat Graeme Dott 3-1 with a top break of 106, while in the other semi-final, Stephen Maguire failed to score a single point as Lyu won 3-0 with runs of 76, 58, and 100.
Lyu took the first two frames of the final with breaks of 63 and 128, only for Xiao to hit back and win three scrappy frames, taking the decider after a long safety battle on the final brown.
Xiao completes a strong Winners’ Group, joining Jack Lisowski, Stuart Bingham, Kyren Wilson, Judd Trump, John Higgins and Neil Robertson.
Lyu Haotian who replaced Ronnie at short notice gave a very good account of himself.
The world ranking event will run from March 16th to 22nd at the Morningside Arena with a field of 128 players and total prize money of £427,000.
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Notable first round matches include:
Ronnie O’Sullivan v Mohamed Ibrahim – Friday March 17th, not before 6pm Mark Williams v Sean O’Sullivan – Friday March 17th, not before 2pm Judd Trump v David Lilley – Friday March 17th, not before 4pm Graeme Dott v Jimmy White – Friday March 17th, not before 12pm Jack Lisowski v Louis Heathcote – Thursday March 16th, not before 10am Neil Robertson v Luke Simmonds – Thursday March 16th, not before 2pm Mark Allen v Peter Lines – Thursday March 16th, not before 6pm Stuart Bingham v Ng Onyee – Thursday March 16th, not before 12pm Ding Junhui v Xu Si – Saturday March 18th, not before 12pm Ali Carter v Dechawat Poomjaeng – Saturday March 18th, not before 10am Shaun Murphy v Oliver Brown – Saturday March 18th, not before 4pm Kyren Wilson v Dean Young – Friday March 17th, not before 2pm Chris Wakelin v Reanne Evans – Saturday March 18th, not before 2pm John Higgins v Michael White – Saturday March 18th, not before 4pm Robert Milkins v Mink Nutcharut – Sunday March 19th, not before 10am Mark Selby v Fraser Patrick – Saturday March 18th, not before 6pm
The WST Classic is the last counting event in the race to qualify for the Duelbits Tour Championship, and for those who don’t make it to Hull it’s the final event before the Cazoo World Championship.
The final day will include the quarter-finals at 10am, semi-finals at 2.30pm and final at 7pm. All matches will be best of seven frames, up until the semi-finals which are best of nine, and the final which is best of 11.
On paper, Ronnie is not in the more difficult section but the way this season has gone I’m not holding my breath.
As the 2023 “traditional” Championship League is in its last day, Ronnie and Mark Allen prepare themselves for two days of exhibitions in Budapest. Phil Haigh reports on the coming Magyar Gala
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Allen attract huge crowds as they head to Hungary for exhibition
Phil Haigh Wednesday 1 Mar 2023 4:12 pm
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Allen are on their travels this weekend (Pictures: Getty)
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Allen will be delighting Hungarian snooker fans this weekend when they face off at a giant sold out exhibition in Budapest.
The Hungarian Snooker Gala is back for another instalment after starting in 2017 and has hosted a number of the top names in the game, including Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, John Higgins, Steve Davis and Jimmy White.
The Rocket and the Pistol will be making their first trips to Hungary, though, and unsurprisingly the world champion has attracted big crowds.
The exhibition event is played over three sessions at the Gerevich Aladar National Sports Hall in Budapest, which has a capacity of 1,500.
The event sold out within 24 hours of tickets going on sale, so there is no shortage of interest in snooker in the Hungarian capital, with 4,500 set to enjoy the event.
O’Sullivan and Allen will play each other in shoot out frames and against local players, with the two top players then playing a longer match against each other later on.
There have been five editions of the event since 2017, but for three years, meaning organisers are thrilled for the gala to return with the sport’s biggest draw.
The organisers explain: ‘The event series started in March 2017 and was created by three dedicated snooker fans, Gábor Wéber, Balázs Csurgó and Gábor Buzás.
‘From the very beginning, the intention of the organizers was to promote the sport of snooker and to present Hungarian talents.’
Ali Carter and Neil Robertson played in the first event in Hungary (Picture: Magyar Snooker Gala)
It is a jet-setting for days for the Rocket who will head to Thailand after Hungary to play in the Six Red World Championship in Thailand, with his campaign there starting on 7 March against Jimmy Robertson.
Also in O’Sullivan’s group are Thai legend James Wattana and rising star Stan Moody.
I have been at three of the previous instalments of the Magyar Gala, including the first one, and it’s always a great, well organised and well attended event. Amongst the “Hungarian talents” I witnessed was a then very young Bulcsú Révész. He was about 11 years old and very small…
If you intend to go, the old Ghetto of Budapest is a great place to stay, and the Spinoza Cafe is a place to visit. If you’re lucky, you may even enjoy/discover the Klezmer music. Anyway…
That the event was sold out within 24 hours doesn’t surprise me. Snooker is well appreciated in mainland Europe, and Ronnie in particular is “big” amongst the fans. This is a market that is waiting to be further developed if only WST were ready to “depart” from their UK centric model. Yes, they do organise events in mainland Europe, but, other than the former PTCs, those events don’t feature the full “field”. Qualifiers are held in the UK. That and the structure of the ranking system, force mainland Europe young talents to go and live in the UK, as ex-pats, or to travel back and forth all the time. It’s not a level playing field. A true “European leg” of the tour, early rounds included, would certainly help. The interest is there.
Ronnie’s withdrawal from the Championship League may be because it would have been quite a hectic schedule with those two events to follow and he’s qualified for next season Champion of Champions already, having won the tournament this season. Mark Allen withdrew from the 6-reds event.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 