Un-Nooh Makes Maximum In Epic Final Victory

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh made three consecutive centuries, including a stunning 147 break, in the last three frames to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-7 and win the World Open final in Yushan.

It’s a second ranking crown for the Thai star, renowned for his rapid pace of play. His first appropriately came at the Shoot Out in 2019, when he defeated Michael Holt to capture the top prize.

Victory this evening sees Un-Nooh become the second player from Thailand to win a full format ranking event. His legendary compatriot James Wattana last achieved the feat back in 1995 at the Thailand Open.

Un-Nooh pockets £175,000 for the win, the biggest payday of his career. It sees him catapult from 39th to 22nd in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings. He also earns a spot in the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship in Manchester, which is reserved for the top 12 earners this season in ranking events. O’Sullivan moves from 12th to 10th in the world rankings.

It’s a disappointing end to a momentous and encouraging week for seven-time World Champion O’Sullivan. The Rocket revealed that he has been suffering stage fright in recent months and has been working to rebuild his game. That work paid dividends in his quarter-final with Ryan Day, when he made a historic 153, the highest break of all-time.

Coming into this evening the momentum, in a match which swung one way then another, was all with Un-Nooh. Having trailed 4-0 this afternoon, he reeled off five on the bounce to lead 5-4 ahead of the concluding session.

He extended his lead to 6-4 when play got underway tonight, but was then met by a break building barrage from 50-year-old O’Sullivan. Three consecutive century runs of 114, 132 and 136 saw him sweep to a 7-6 lead at the mid-session.

When they resumed, breaks of 77 and 132 saw Un-Nooh, who was runner-up to Judd Trump here in 2019, regain the lead. He then moved 9-7 up with a stunning maximum 147 break to send a packed Yushan crowd into raptures.

For the first time in history though, the high break prize for the final stages of a ranking event was paid out to a score higher than 147. O’Sullivan’s 153 took the £5,000 spoils.

Un-Nooh’s perfect run is the seventh 147 of his career and the 240th in professional snooker history. That puts him level with Ding Junhui in seventh position on the all-time list. It is the 23rd of an incredible season, which has smashed the previous record of 15 for most 147s in a single campaign.

If that wasn’t enough, he followed that up with a total clearance of 131 to power over the line and secure the title. Yesterday he said this would be his dream final, after today’s match he admitted it was better than he possibly could have imagined.

“It is like a double dream final now. This has always been my dream, to lift the title against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final. For the rest of my life this is something I’m not going to forget,” said an elated 40-year-old Un-Nooh.

“I went to the practice room in the interval, spoke to myself and managed my emotions. After being sat on my chair watching Ronnie make three centuries, I told myself this is a great final and to enjoy it. I don’t know how what happened after the interval came true. I can’t believe it. I’m still stunned with my performance. How did I do that? Sometimes snooker is one way traffic. To make a 147 in the final against Ronnie O’Sullivan in a final is a great honour.

“This is my first time winning a major event and this is the biggest prize of my career. It is a dream come true and a step forward. I want to make snooker come back to be as famous as it used to be in Thailand. Like the old times.”

O’Sullivan said: “It has been a positive week, but I have to say Thepchaiya was unbelievable. He deserved his victory. He played much better than me today. I watched his semi-final and he was strong. I couldn’t go with that. It was far too good for me.

“Thepchaiya was flowing and had every shot in the book. I have to accept that is how it is. If I found that bit extra I could have made it tougher than him. I am in a much better place than I was even two weeks ago. I’m taking each day as it comes.”