Noppon Saengkham
| Noppon Saengkham | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| birthday | 15th July 1992 (age 28) |
| place of birth | Samut Prakan |
| nationality |
 Thailand
|
| professional | 2010/11, 2013 / 14– |
| Prize money | £ 369,046 as of August 31, 2020 |
| Highest break | 147 ( Welsh Open 2019 ) |
| Century Breaks | 80 (as of August 31, 2020) |
| Main tour successes | |
| World championships | - |
| Ranking tournament victories | - |
| Minor tournament victories | - |
| World rankings | |
| Highest WRL place | 29 ( February 2019– ) |
| Current WRL location | 32 (as of August 17, 2020) |
Noppon Saengkham ( Thai นพพล แสง คำ ; born July 15, 1992 in Samut Prakan Province , central Thailand ) is a Thai snooker player .
Career
Until 2011: Beginning as an amateur
In 2009, the then 16-year-old Noppon made it to the final of the U21 Asian Snooker Championship , but lost it 1: 5 against Zhang Anda . In the same year he reached the final of the IBSF U21 World Snooker Championship , where he secured the ticket for the next Main Tour season with a 9: 8 win over the Iranian Soheil Vahedi .
His first professional season - the 2010/11 season - was miserable for Noppon: He won just a fifth of 20 games, and he also benefited once from Ronnie O'Sullivan's abandonment without a fight . So it took until September until Noppon won his first professional game: At the World Open he managed a 3-1 victory over the Belgian Luca Brecel , before he had to admit defeat 0-3 to Martin Gould . Shortly afterwards he won another game in the fifth event of the Players Tour Championship when he defeated Michael White 4-3. But then he was eliminated immediately - again against Martin Gould. At the MIUS Cup , another PTC event, he benefited from Ronnie O'Sullivan's abandonment without a fight before he lost to Mark Selby . Then it took until February 2011 for Noppon to win another game. At the Welsh Open , he defeated Matthew Couch and then Adrian Gunnell , before failing to Nigel Bond . But because of his poor results, Noppon finished 92nd out of 97 places at the end of the season, so he lost his Main Tour status again.
2011–2013: amateur successes
In his first amateur tournament, the IBSF U21 World Snooker Championship 2011 , Noppon reached another final with victories over, among others, Declan Brennan , Zhang Anda , Duane Jones and Li Hang , which he lost to his compatriot Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon 3: 9 . After an early exit from the IBSF World Snooker Championship in 2011 , he reached the semi-finals of the U21 Asian Snooker Championship in 2012 , where he failed against the Iranian Hossein Vafaei .
In 2012 Noppon reached the semi-finals of the 2012 Asian Snooker Championship , where he lost to Pankaj Advani , and the second round of the 2012 IBSF U21 World Snooker Championship , where he lost out to the Chinese Zhou Yuelong . He also reached the semi-finals of the amateur world championship , where he lost to Gary Wilson after victories over, among others, Gareth Allen and Alexander Ursenbacher . In April 2013 he qualified for the 2013/14 season with a 6-5 win over Pakistani Muhammad Majid Ali in the final of the U21 Asian Snooker Championship .
He was also invited to the 6-Red World Championship as part of the 2012/13 Main Tour season , where he won the group stage over Krzysztof Wróbel , Marcus Campbell , Matthew Stevens and Ricky Walden , before moving to Graeme in the first main round Dott failed. He also got a wildcard for the World Open , where he lost to Mark Joyce in the wildcard round.
2013–2016: New start on the Main Tour
Noppon started with an opening defeat in his second professional season before he reached the main round of the Australian Goldfields Open with four wins in the qualifying rounds . After a series of further defeats in the opening session, he reached the quarterfinals of the 6-Red World Championship , where he had to admit defeat to eventual winner Mark Davis . After a victory at the Indian Open and numerous other initial defeats, he reached the round of 32 at the UK Championship . Shortly afterwards, he reached the round of 64 at both the German Masters and the Welsh Open , before joining the World Open in the Round of the last 32 to Mark Selby failed. At the end of the season he lost two more opening games, including that in the World Cup qualification with 9:10 against Vinnie Calabrese . Noppon finished the season in 84th place in the world , which would not have been enough to qualify for the next season. But Noppon had received a starting place for two seasons and remained on the Main Tour.
At the start of the next season , Noppon reached the round of 32 of the Yixing Open and the Riga Open , where he was eliminated by Michael Holt and Alan McManus . Shortly thereafter, after a couple of defeats in the beginning, he reached the round of 16 of the 6-Red World Championship , where he was defeated by the 2005 world champion, Shaun Murphy . After a third qualification round defeat at the Shanghai Masters he reached the round of the last 32 of the International Championships after two early defeats , where he had to admit defeat to the Chinese Xiao Guodong in the decider . After two further defeats at the beginning he reached the quarter-finals of a minor ranking tournament at the Lisbon Open with victories over David Grace , Mitchell Mann , Ross Muir and Kurt Maflin . There he lost to the eventual winner Stephen Maguire from Scotland. However, a long series of defeats followed, which was only ended with a 10: 6 victory over the German Lukas Kleckers in the first qualifying round of the snooker world championship. However, he then lost to Michael Holt. In the world rankings he placed 71st, which means he just missed the 64th place and thus lost his Main Tour status. But thanks to his results at the PTC events, Noppon was the only non-European to qualify for the next two seasons via the European Tour Order of Merit (the European Tour was part of the Players Tour Championship).
After an opening defeat at the start of the 2015/16 season , Noppon reached the semi-finals of the 6-Red World Championship , where he had to admit defeat to his compatriot Thepchaiya Un-Nooh . After several early defeats, he won another game on his own at the International Championship , when he first defeated Stephen Maguire 6-2 and then in the wildcard round the Chinese Lin Shuai, before failing in the first main round to Oliver Lines . But after that the series of defeats continued seamlessly until it ended abruptly with the China Open . Noppon first defeated Oliver Lines before he defeated Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott, two ex-world champions, and Ben Woollaston, another player from the extended world elite, and thus made it to the quarter-finals. There he lost to John Higgins . At the end of the season he lost in the World Cup qualification after defeating Michael Georgiou against Graeme Dott. In the world rankings , the Thai placed 82nd.
From 2016: rise to the top of the world
Right at the start of the next season , Noppon won his first game at the Riga Masters , but then he was eliminated against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh . Shortly afterwards he reached the round of 16 at the 6-Red World Championship taking place in Thailand , where he lost to Liang Wenbo . Until the Scottish Open , Noppon only won two games (his opening games at the English Open and the UK Championship ), where he then moved into the round of 32 with victories over Craig Steadman and Aditya Mehta , where he went to Judd Trump failed. There now followed by three second-round defeats and an opening defeat before he at the China Open , the English Tom Ford and Robert Milkins defeated before it in the round of 32 against Stuart Bingham lost. At the end of the season he managed a surprise: With wins over Jak Jones (10: 5), Anthony Hamilton (10: 9) and Lee Walker (10: 8), Noppon qualified for the finals of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theater in Sheffield . There he lost directly to Neil Robertson , but Noppon was able to save himself to 64th place in the world ranking, which is the first time he qualified for the next season on the world snooker ranking .
At the beginning of the 2017/18 season , Noppon only reached the round of 32 of the Riga Masters before reaching the round of 64 in both the China Championship and the Paul Hunter Classic . He then reached the round of 16 of the 6-Red World Championship and, after an opening defeat, the rounds of the last 64 of the World Open and the European Masters . After a series of opening defeats, he reached the round of 32 in three consecutive tournaments - Northern Ireland Open , UK Championship and Scottish Open - whereupon he lost his first match at the German Masters before reaching the second round of the shoot-out . Shortly afterwards he achieved his greatest career success to date: With victories over Ross Muir , Judd Trump , Craig Steadman , Kyren Wilson and Ian Burns , he reached the semifinals of the Welsh Open , which he lost 4: 6 to Barry Hawkins . This success brought him for a short time the 47th place in the world rankings, which held the record until the Players Championship , where he rose one place higher. In the run-up to the tournament, in which he had actually not participated, he had reached the round of the last 32 of the Gibraltar Open and the round of the last 64 of the China Open . At the end of the season, however, Noppon lost after a 10-1 win over Chen Zifan in the second round of World Cup qualification against Hossein Vafaei , so that at the end of the season he slipped to 52nd place in the world ranking , which was an improvement of 12 places.
After an opening defeat at the start of the 2018/19 season , Noppon reached the semifinals of a full ranking tournament at the World Open for the second time in his career, where he lost to Mark Williams , who became world champion for the third time in May. Shortly thereafter, he made the round of 32 at the Paul Hunter Classic before retiring for the first time in the group stage of the 6-Red World Championship . He then moved into another round of the last 32 at the China Championship , before he reached the quarter-finals after an opening defeat at the English Open and lost there to Stephen Maguire . After two subsequent early defeats, he moved back to the round of 32 at the UK Championship , but it was over against Mark Williams. Then Noppon suffered two more early defeats before he was invited because of his good results to the World Grand Prix , which was only accessible to the then top 32 of the one-year ranking. There he defeated John Higgins before being eliminated by Mark Selby . Shortly thereafter, he reached the round of 32 at the Welsh Open , where he played a maximum break for the first time . Then he had to take defeats in the three subsequent tournaments.
Successes (selection)
| output | year | competition | Final opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amateur tournaments | ||||
| Second | 2009 | ACBS U21 Asian Snooker Championship |
 Zhang Anda
|
1: 5 |
| winner | 2009 | IBSF U21 World Snooker Championship |
 Soheil Vahedi
|
9: 8 |
| Second | 2011 | IBSF U21 World Snooker Championship |
Thanawat Tirapong Paiboon
|
3: 9 |
Maximum breaks
Individual evidence
Web links
- Player profile (prosnookerblog.com)
- Noppon saengkham in the snooker Database (English)
- Profile at World Snooker
- Profile at snooker.org
- Noppon saengkham in the Internet Movie Database (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Noppon Saengkham |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | thai snooker player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 15, 1992 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Samut Prakan , Thailand |