First, it was unsung Somkiert Raybankoh who played astonishingly well to upstage Thailand No. 4 Dechawat Poomjaeng 4-2 to move into the quarter-finals of a national event for the first time in his career.
Later, Noppadol Sangnil handed a 4-1 rout to world No. 37 Stuart Pettman of England (pictured above) to book his place in the next round of the fourth event of Thailand professional ranking circuit, which is co-sponsored by CAT Telecom and Sports Authority of Thailand.
Pettman was impressive in his wild card round encounter with Pramual Chaiyapiwat, winning the match 4-0 and scoring a clearance of 127 points in the process.
However, Pettman's 127-point mark did not stand for long as he saw Noppadol not only deprive him of a quarter-final place but also raise the bar to 130 points, scoring the break in the fourth frame of their clash.
Pettman, the 2009 China Open semifinalist who had been among the pre-tournament favourites, had a chance to narrow the margin and go into the recovery mode in the fifth frame, but his luck betrayed him.
With the balls ideally placed around the table, Pettman snookered himself behind a pink while getting a position on the red and that opened the way for Noppadol to claw his way back and wrap up the match.
In other last 16 round match, Thailand No. 5 and former Asian champion Supoj Saenla was given a brief shock by the first-time qualifier Somchai Prapuptanon.
Supoj took the first frame with ease, but then Somchai grabbed two in a row to go 2-1 up.
Supoj, a former Main Tour professional, had to raise his game a notch and trotted his way to 4-2 victory that earned him a place in the quarter-finals. |
