Thailand’s Chatchapong Nasa earned a place on the World Snooker Tour for the first time by beating Liu Linhao 4-0 in the semi-finals of Asia-Oceania Q School Event 1 in Bangkok on Sunday.
Nasa, age 27, wins a place on the pro circuit for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 seasons. He will be one of at least five Thai players on the tour next season, joining Noppon Saengkham, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Sunny Akani and Mink Nutcharut.
“I was very nervous at the start because this match meant so much to me,” said Nasa. “I have entered Q School for four years – the first time in the UK – but I didn’t succeed. This is my third time trying in Thailand. I have been training six to eight hours every day for this event. After I won four matches in the earlier rounds, I told myself ‘this is it. I must qualify this year.’ I’m so relieved to get through in the first event and not have to start all over again tomorrow.
“I want to thank the Billiard Sports Association of Thailand for providing this opportunity for Thai and Asian players to earn tour cards without having to travel to the UK. I also want to express my sincere gratitude to S1 and all my sponsors who have supported me throughout.”
In an all-Chinese second semi-final, Liu Wenwei overcame Luo Zetao 4-3 and also earned a tour card for the first time.
Luo led 2-1 before Liu hit back with breaks of 75 and 56 to move ahead 3-2. In frame six, Luo made the highest break of the tournament so far with 117 to force the decider. But it was Liu who held his nerve, potting a brilliant long yellow to seal victory.
Asia Oceania Event 2 starts on Monday 19th May with two more tour cards up for grab.
The coverage of the event has been good with a lot of matches being streamed. I reckon that this is thanks to the Billiard Sports Association of Thailand as well. Generally, the quality of the snooker on show has been really good. Unless my memory is misleading me, it’s better than anything we had in Asian Q-School events in previous years.
One thought on “Chatchapong Nasa and Liu Wenwei won the 2025 Asia-Oceania Q School Event 1 ”
There were two contrasting matches. Chatchapong Nasa won quite comfortably, against the 17-year old Liu Linhao. But then Liu Wenwei and Luo Zetao produced a tense thriller. Luo Zetao was a talented junior, but then covid intervened, and he hasn’t really developed a solid all-round game. He’s 24 now, and may not have a better chance than this. Although he looks older, Liu Wenwei is only 21, and from the unheralded Qinghai province – a large underpopulated mountainous desert. He has improved a lot very quickly, and was able to stay relatively calm. He ultimately fluked a red and laid a decisive snooker. In fact, almost exactly the same thing happened in his previous win over Nattanapong Chaikul.
So, both qualifiers are a relative surprise, but Q School does that. The stronger players are usually the ex-professionals, but they are under enormous pressure. Others may just have a good week and suddenly find themselves unexpectedly with a WST tour card.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
There were two contrasting matches. Chatchapong Nasa won quite comfortably, against the 17-year old Liu Linhao. But then Liu Wenwei and Luo Zetao produced a tense thriller. Luo Zetao was a talented junior, but then covid intervened, and he hasn’t really developed a solid all-round game. He’s 24 now, and may not have a better chance than this. Although he looks older, Liu Wenwei is only 21, and from the unheralded Qinghai province – a large underpopulated mountainous desert. He has improved a lot very quickly, and was able to stay relatively calm. He ultimately fluked a red and laid a decisive snooker. In fact, almost exactly the same thing happened in his previous win over Nattanapong Chaikul.
So, both qualifiers are a relative surprise, but Q School does that. The stronger players are usually the ex-professionals, but they are under enormous pressure. Others may just have a good week and suddenly find themselves unexpectedly with a WST tour card.