Liu Song, the defending champion, was both crafty and sensible in the title showdown and Noppadon, the top ranked player in the country and the man to beat at the moment, left much to be desired of to go down 3-5.
Thailand has long been trying with varying degree of success to narrow gap between its players and those from the British Isles. But now another picture is emerging -- they also need to keep pace with the Chinese who are impressing at levels of snooker.
Liu Song had fine start to the final when a break of 58 gave him the opening and he then rallied from behind to widen his lead to 2-0.
Noppadon, a former world and Asian champion whose 143-point clearance was the highest break of the tournament, succeeded in taking one back with a 62-point run in the third.
The engrossing battle continued as the two carried the frame to 3-3, but from that point onwards it was Liu Song's show.
The Chinese, No. 53 in the world professional rankings, scored a fine break of 111 in the seventh and then held his experienced opponent scoreless again in the eighth frame to walk away with the top honours of the first event of the Thailand professional circuit, which is co-sponsored by CAT Telecom and Sports Authority of Thailand.
Liu Song, who was rewarded with a cash prize of 100,000 baht, said: "I won't say that I played very well in the tournament and I do need to improve my form before the world professional tour gets underway in August.
"Somehow I always perform well in this city and I do hope that I will get another chance to come here next year. Who knows, maybe I am able to win my third title here in a row."
Noppadon received 50,000 baht for his second-place finish and also the 15,000 baht highest break prize.
The final stage of the second ranking event will take place at the Patchara Hotel in Suphan Buri province on May 24-29.
Final frame scores:
Liu Song (China) beat Noppadon Noppachorn (Thailand) 5-3 (68(58)-26, 69-58, 1-122(67), 89-0, 41-72, 15-96, 132(111)-0, 77-0) |
