On Yee Regains Women’s World Title

Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee won the Eden World Women’s Championship for the second time, beating India’s Vidya Pillai 6-5 in the final.

It was a dramatic concluding day at the Lagoon Billiard Room in Toa Payoh, Singapore as 26-year-old On Yee scored deciding frame victories in the semis and final to take the £5,000 top prize and regain the title she first won in 2015. Click here for all the results

In the semis she faced Reanne Evans, who beat On Yee in the 2014 and 2016 finals. This time On Yee trailed by 60 points in the last frame but made a break of 50 then cleared from green to pink to snatch a 5-4 win. Pillai, meanwhile, saw off England’s Rebecca Granger 5-1 to become the first Indian player to reach the final.

The first ever all-Asian final in this event saw On Yee take an early 2-0 lead before Pillai hit back to win four frames in a row. On Yee responded with three frames to go 5-4 ahead before her opponent forced the decider.

It came down to the last two balls and On Yee fouled the pink, leaving her opponent a free ball, with the black hanging over a corner pocket and the pink close to it. Pillai, trailing by four points, nominated the black, but mis-cued and hit the pink first. A relieved On Yee then potted the pink to win the frame 66-50 at 1.30am local time.

On Yee, who is coached by Wayne Griffiths at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, tweeted: “Thank you so much for everyone’s support! After 15 hrs of snooker, I’m looking forward to coming home. See you all soon.”

Following a recent restructure, which saw World Ladies Billiards & Snooker come under the governance of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), this was the first time in over 20 years that the most prestigious ranking event in women’s snooker was held outside of the UK.