On Yee On Top In Bruges
Ng On Yee has defeated Reanne Evans 4-2 in a reverse of last year’s final claim her first ranking title of the season at the Belgian Women’s Open in Bruges.
The victory represents a first ranking event triumph of the season for Asia’s number one player and ends a ranking title drought that had stretched back to the 2018 Australian Women’s Open.
World number two On Yee progressed to the semi-final stages with comfortable victories against Albina Liashcuk of Belarus and England’s Steph Daughtery, where she would face third seed Nutcharut Wongharuthai. Having lost her previous three encounters against the Thai youngster, On Yee recovered from 1-0 and 2-1 behind to secure a 4-2 victory with top runs of 71, 60 and 58.
Awaiting her was top seed Reanne Evans, who entered the tournament looking to extend an unbeaten run dating back to October 2018 and capture her third title of the season. Following a 3-0 victory against Harriet Haynes on Saturday evening, the 12-time world champion survived a valiant comeback from compatriot Rebecca Kenna in the quarter-finals to win 3-2, before dispatching Emma Parker in the last four to reach the final.
There it was Evans who would make the stronger start as she claimed the opening frame with an impressive clearance of 76, before On Yee turned the tables by taking two close frames to lead with a top break of 41.
Defending champion Evans responded with a green to pink clearance to level again at 2-2, but from there it was On Yee who added the final two frames to secure a confidence-boosting victory.
“It feels really good to win this title,” said On Yee. “The last time was 15 months ago and I have been questioning myself in the last year because I wasn’t doing so well in tournaments. Of course Reanne, Mink and other players are getting better so I have to improve myself too.”
“I didn’t play well in the first two rounds until I played Nutcharut, then I started to play a bit better. There were a few frames in the final where Reanne was 30-40 in front and I came back which were important.”
“There is a lot of negative news in Hong Kong and around the world so hopefully this is good news for Hong Kong!”
The 29-year-old, who also revealed that she has been suffering from a skin allergy during the past few days, added that despite her previous title drought on tour, that she feels that she is continuing to improve a player.
“I do feel like I am improving from last year but it has not shown in the results,” added On Yee. “I have to still try to do the simple things, trust myself, believe in myself and hopefully the results will follow.”
Victory for On Yee represents not only her first win on tour for 15 months but also her first win against top ranked Evans since the 2017 Eden Masters.
Her success sees her join Evans and Nutcharut Wongharuthai as ranking event winners this season and also consolidates her position in second place in the world rankings.
Side-tournaments
Emma Parker claimed her sixth-career junior title with a 2-0 victory against Albina Liashcuk in the final of the Under-21s competition in Bruges. The 20-year-old booked her place in the final with wins against Zoe Killington and Nutcharut Wongharuthai, before seeing off debut finalist Liashcuk who had impressed many at just 15-years-old with wins against Steph Daughtery and Chloe White.
It was a weekend to remember for Belgium’s Caty Dehaene who successfully defended her Seniors title, as well as adding victory in the Challenge Cup side-event to secure a title double.
Her Seniors success came against England’s Jackie Ellis with a 2-0 win, while she won a dramatic contest 2-1 against Northern Ireland’s Chucky Preston to win the Challenge Cup as all three frames were decided by the final black ball.
The World Women’s Snooker Tour returns with this year’s Festival of Women’s Snooker, an event which features five individual tournaments, to be played over four days from 3-6 April 2020 at the Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds, England.
