One loss was always on the cards as the vagaries of the draw pitted star Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm against the reigning Asian champion Issara Kachaiwong. Ratchapol played brilliantly to edge Issara 6-5 and enter the last 16 round which was to be played late on Thursday night.
The most spectacular show of the first two sessions of the day was produced by a teenaged Thai, Noppon Saengkham.
Noppon, a relatively unknown player until he won the 2009 world youth title, played splendidly to defy all odds and score a fantastic 6-4 victory over former world professional champion Peter Ebdon.
Considering his lack of experience nobody had fancied the young Thai much but the attitude of the large crowd at the venue changed when Noppon cruised to a 4-1 over his illustrious opponent.
Ebdon crawled his way back into contention by taking the sixth and seventh frames, but Noppon added one more to his maintain an upper hand on the game. And just when Ebdon threatened another recovery, the Thai quickly sealed the fate of the match with a fine show of potting in the 10th frame.
Highly talented Thepchaiya Un-nooh did not face many problems in scoring a 6-2 victory of seasoned English professional Nigel Bond to cruise into the last 16 stage.
Passakorn Suwannawat had a tough encounter with Englishman Stuart Bingham, former world amateur champion and runner-up of the 2008 SangSom 6-red International, before stealing a 6-4 win.
Former Asian champion Supoj Saenla didn't even have a clue what had hit him as European qualifier Jamie Jones of Wales held him scoreless in the first three frames to drain confidence out of his Thai rival and breeze to a 6-3 victory.
Noppadon Noppachorn finally ran out of luck and his run in the tournament was mercilessly ended by Jimmy White, the English winner of the 2009 SangSom 6-red Grand Prix who won the last 32 encounter 6-2 with ease.
In another major upset on Thursday, the current world amateur champion Alfie Burden of England fell the last world professional champion standing in the event by handing Mark J. Williams of Wales a 6-4 loss.
The quarter-finals will be played on Friday at 10 am and the two semifinals will follow at 3 pm and 7 pm. TrueSport 3 will televise three matches live, one each at the given times.
RESULTS
Last 32 round, Session One: Noppon Saengkham (ENG) bt Peter Ebdon (ENG) 6-4 (37-15, 6-32, 34-33, 44-0, 41-0, 0-39, 0-54, 47-4, 0-69, 60-1), Thepchaiya Un-nooh (THA) bt Nigel Bond (ENG) 6-2 (37-8, 66-6, 7-49, 66(66)-0, 38-0, 5-58, 66(66)-0, 48-16), Jimmy White (ENG) bt Noppadon Noppachorn (THA) 6-2 (45-8, 31-23, 13-55, 66-0, 58-0, 50-0, 21-34, 46-0), Jamie Jones (WAL) bt Supoj Saenla (THA) 6-3 (75(75)-0, 68(68)-0, 35-0, 74-0, 69(69)-0, 27-20, 48-0, 66(66)-0, 44-8), Mark Selby (ENG) bt Stuart Pettman (ENG) 6-3, Joe Perry (ENG) bt Andrew Pagett (WAL) 6-5, Barry Hawkins (ENG) bt Mohammed Mustafa Shehab (UAE) 6-5, Alfie Burden (ENG) bt Mark J. Williams (WAL) 6-4
Last 32 round, Session Two: Michael Holt (ENG) bt Glen Wilkinson (AUS) 6-2, Judd Trump (ENG) bt Joe Swail (NIR) 6-2, Ricky Walden (ENG) bt Darren Morgan (WAL) 6-1, Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm (THA) bt Issara Kachaiwong (THA) 6-5 (44-42, 2-39, 31-23, 34-25, 24-35, 69-0, 14-44, 42-22, 4-74, 10-42, 41-4), Gerard Greene (NIR) bt Scott MacKenzie (SCO) 6-2, Dave Harold (ENG) bt Mohammad Sajjad (PAK) 6-1, Jamie Cope (ENG) bt Mark Davis (ENG) 6-1, Passakorn Suwannawat (THA) bt Stuart Bingham (ENG) 6-4 (51-0, 72-0, 37-8. 45-10, 2-36, 28-40, 27-34, 53-13, 34-26, 47-1) |
