Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

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Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh at Snooker German Masters (Martin Rulsch) 2014-01-29 01.jpg
Un-Nooh at the 2014 German Masters
Born (1985-04-18) 18 April 1985 (age 36)
Bangkok, Thailand
Sport country Thailand
Nickname
  • Thai Rocket
  • F-One
  • Speed King
Professional2009/2010, 2012–present
Highest ranking15 (October 2020)
Current ranking 50 (as of 20 December 2021)
Maximum breaks3
Century breaks135 (as of 23 December 2021)
Tournament wins
Ranking1
Non-ranking1
Medal record
Men's snooker
Representing  Thailand
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Guangzhou Team
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2011 Palembang 6-red singles
Silver medal – second place 2007 Nakhon Ratchasima Singles
Un-Nooh in 2013

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thai: เทพไชยา อุ่นหนู Thephchịyā Xùnh̄nū; born 18 April 1985) is a Thai professional snooker player. He has won one ranking event, the 2019 Snooker Shoot Out, and finished as runner-up in the 2019 World Open. He is regarded as one of the fastest snooker players on the World Tour,[1] averaging less than 17 seconds per shot during the 2017–18 snooker season.[2]

Career[]

Un-Nooh first entered the professional tour for the 2009–10 season by winning the 2008 IBSF World Snooker Championship. He dropped off the main tour after just one season.

He received the Thai nomination to compete on the snooker tour for the 2012–13 season.[3] As a new player on the tour, he needed to win four matches to reach the main stage of the ranking events. He lost in the third qualifying round in three of the first four ranking events of the season.[4] In September, it was announced that his match at the Players Tour Championship – Event 3 against Steve Davis was under investigation due to unusual betting patterns.[5] Un-Nooh moved from an 8/11 odds-on favourite to 11/8 against just before the match started, and went on to lose 0–4 to the six-time world champion.[6] World Snooker released a statement in November to confirm that there was insufficient evidence, and that no further action would be taken against Un-Nooh.[7] He reached the final qualifying round for the UK Championship and the World Open, but lost to Michael Holt and Ryan Day respectively.[4] Un-Nooh played in nine of the ten Players Tour Championship Events during the season; his best results were three last-16 defeats in European Tour Events, and he finished 46th on the PTC Order of Merit.[8] His season ended when he was beaten 3–10 by Ben Woollaston in the third round of World Championship Qualifying, which saw him finish the year ranked world number 69.[9][10]

2013/2014 season[]

Un-Nooh lost in the qualifying rounds for the first four ranking events of the 2013–14 season, but then beat Gerard Greene 6–5 to reach the International Championship in Chengdu, China.[11] In his first appearance in the main draw of a ranking event he thrashed Zhang Anda 6–1, before losing by the same scoreline to Neil Robertson in the last 32.[12] However, the experience seemed to kick start Un-Nooh's season as in 2014 he played at the venue stage of four of the remaining six ranking events. He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–4 in qualifying for the German Masters, with the reigning world champion playing high risk exhibition shots throughout the match, but Un-Nooh was whitewashed 5–0 by Jack Lisowski in the first round.[13][14] At the World Open, Un-Nooh led Stephen Maguire 3–0, before the world number eight rallied to win four frames in a row. The match went into a deciding frame in which Un-Nooh made a break of sixty, only for Maguire to get a chance to win but then miss the final brown, handing Un-Nooh a big scalp.[15] He then reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time by beating Andrew Higginson 5–1 and lost 5–2 to Graeme Dott, despite missing the final pink when on a 147 break during the match.[11] Un-Nooh advanced to the last 32 of the China Open by whitewashing 1997 world champion Ken Doherty 5–0, before losing 5–3 against Ding Junhui.[11] His performances during the campaign saw him end it in the top 64 in the world rankings for the first time as he was placed 59th.[16]

2014/2015 season[]

Un-Nooh qualified for the International Championship for the second year in a row, but was edged out 6–5 by Fergal O'Brien in the first round.[17] He also lost in a deciding frame in the first round of the UK Championship against Robin Hull, despite making breaks of 137 and 117 during the match.[18] Un-Nooh won five games to reach the semi-finals of the Xuzhou Open where he beat Mark Williams 4–1 to play in his first final in a professional event. He was defeated 4–1 by Joe Perry, but he described Un-Nooh as an exceptional talent after the match.[19]

Un-Nooh defeated defending champion Ding Junhui in the first round of the Indian Open, calling it his biggest win after the match. He also stated that he didn't feel he could win the title.[20] Nevertheless, he whitewashed Luca Brecel 4–0 and then recorded wins over Jamie Jones and Mark Davis to reach the semi-finals of a ranking event for the first time.[21] Un-Nooh compiled a trio of half-century breaks to race into a 3–0 lead over Ricky Walden, but went on to lose 4–3.[22] His Asian final saw him finish fourth on their Order of Merit to make his debut in the Grand Final, where he was knocked out 4–1 by Mark Williams in the first round.[23] Un-Nooh's rise up the rankings continued as he ended the year 49th in the world.[24]

2015/2016 season[]

Un-Nooh scored his first professional win at the 2015 Six-red World Championship in Bangkok, Thailand. He beat world champion Stuart Bingham and former UK Champion Judd Trump en route to a final with China's Liang Wenbo, which he won 8–2 in frames.[25] Un-Nooh missed the final black in attempting to make a maximum break in his 6–2 loss to Neil Robertson at the UK Championship.[26] He appeared on Channel 4 show TFI Friday a few days later to recreate the shot, and this time potted it.[27] At the World Grand Prix, Un-Nooh eliminated Marco Fu 4–3 and Mark Allen 4–2 to reach the quarter-finals. He made breaks of 97, 84 and 74 to lead 3–1, but Ding Junhui took the match 4–3.[28] Incredibly, in the final round of World Championship qualifying, Un-Nooh missed another 147 final black. He did make a 144 later on in the match, but his opponent Anthony McGill won 10–7.[29] Un Nooh increased his ranking by 16 places over the year to end it as the world number 33.[30]

2016/2017 season[]

Un-Nooh knocked out world number one Mark Selby 5–3 in the second round of the World Open, and then whitewashed Alan McManus 5–0 and beat Anthony McGill 5–2.[31] In the semi-finals he suffered a 6–1 loss to Ali Carter.[32] In the third round of the Paul Hunter Classic against Kurt Maflin, Un-Nooh finally made his first professional 147 break, after twice missing the final black the previous season. It earned him £40,000, and he won the match 4–1 before then narrowly beating Mark Allen and David Grace both 4–3, to reach the semi-finals of a ranking tournament for the second successive event.[33] Un-Nooh lost 4–2 against Tom Ford. He struggled to build on this afterward, for he could not win a first-round match until the 2017 Welsh Open, in which he beat Ben Woollaston 4–0 and then saw off Ryan Day 4–1, before being defeated 4–1 by Barry Hawkins.[34]

2017/2018 season[]

2018/2019 season[]

Un-Nooh secured his first ranking event title at the 2019 Snooker Shoot Out, beating Michael Holt with a break of 74. This came after he made the highest break in the tournament's history, 139, in the semi-finals to beat Jamie Clarke. He secured a £32,000 prize and became the second player from Thailand to win a ranking event.[35]

Performance and rankings timeline[]

Tournament 2008/
09 		2009/
10 		2010/
11 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2020/
21 		2021/
22
Ranking[36][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 3] [nb 2] [nb 3] 69 59 49 33 42 56 37 20 19
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event 2R RR
British Open Tournament Not Held 1R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 1R 3R QF 3R 4R LQ
English Open Tournament Not Held 1R 2R 3R 4R 2R 2R
UK Championship A LQ A LQ 1R 1R 3R 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R 2R
Scottish Open Tournament Not Held MR Tournament Not Held 1R 1R 1R QF 2R LQ
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR QF DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ DNQ
Shoot-Out Not Held Non-Ranking Event 2R A W 2R 4R
German Masters Not Held A LQ 1R LQ LQ 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ LQ
Players Championship[nb 4] Not Held A DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ
European Masters Tournament Not Held A 2R 1R QF 1R
Welsh Open A LQ A LQ 2R 2R 2R 3R 2R 2R 1R 1R
Tournament Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR A WD 3R QF 4R
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R 1R LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Champion of Champions Tournament Not Held A A A A A A QF A
Masters A A A A A A A A A A A 1R
Championship League A A A A A A A A A A A RR
Variant format tournaments
Six-red World Championship[nb 5] 1R 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R W 2R F RR RR Not Held
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic[nb 6] Non-Ranking Event LQ LQ WD Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open Tournament Not Held LQ LQ WD A Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters A LQ A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ Non-Ranking Not Held
Paul Hunter Classic Pro-am Minor-Ranking Event SF A 4R NR Not Held
Indian Open Tournament Not Held LQ SF NH LQ LQ 2R Tournament Not Held
China Open A LQ A LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 7] Tournament Not Held Minor-Ranking LQ 2R A 3R Not Held
International Championship Tournament Not Held LQ 2R 1R SF LQ LQ 1R 1R Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR 2R LQ 1R Not Held
World Open[nb 8] A LQ LQ LQ 3R Not Held SF 3R 1R F Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held RR NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Shoot-Out Not Held A 3R 3R 1R 2R Ranking Event
Haining Open Tournament Not Held Minor-Ranking A A 3R W Not Held
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
RV / Ranking & Variant Format Event means an event is/was a ranking & variant format event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event means an event is/was a pro-am event.
VF / Variant Format Event means an event is/was a variant format event.
  1. ^ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ^ a b He was an amateur.
  3. ^ a b New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
  4. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
  5. ^ The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)
  6. ^ The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
  7. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  8. ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (2008/2009–2009/2010) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)

Career finals[]

Ranking finals: 2 (1 title)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2019 Snooker Shoot Out England Michael Holt 1–0
Runner-up 1. 2019 World Open England Judd Trump 5–10

Minor-ranking finals: 1[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2015 Xuzhou Open England Joe Perry 1–4

Non-ranking finals: 1 (1 title)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2019 Haining Open China Li Hang 5–3

Variant finals: 3 (2 titles)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2011 Southeast Asian Games (6-red) Singapore Ang Boon Chin 4–1
Winner 1. 2015 Six-red World Championship China Liang Wenbo 8–2
Runner-up 1. 2017 Six-red World Championship Wales Mark Williams 2–8

Pro-am finals: 1[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2007 Southeast Asian Games Thailand Phaitoon Phonbun 1–4

Amateur finals: 2 (2 titles)[]

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2008 IBSF World Snooker Championship Republic of Ireland Colm Gilcreest 11–7
Winner 2. 2009 PIOS – Event 7 England Lee Page 6–3

References[]

  1. ^ "World Snooker Championship 2020 draw: Ronnie O'Sullivan faces rapid Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in first round". The Independent. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  2. ^ Keogh, Frank (4 September 2019). "Snooker speeds up as fastest players revealed in crackdown on slow play". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Tour Players 2012/2013". worldsnooker.com. World Snooker. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  5. ^ "WPBSA Statement". World Snooker. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  6. ^ "Steve Davis v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh match under investigation". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  7. ^ "WPBSA Statement". World Snooker. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  10. ^ "Official World Snooker Ranking List For The 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  11. ^ a b c "Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  12. ^ "Snooker - O'Sullivan collapses from 1/250 shot to defeat in China". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Davis books his place in German Masters". Times of Malta. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  14. ^ "Carter sent packing from German Masters". Eurosport. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  15. ^ "Allen Gets Job Dunn In Haikou". World Snooker. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  16. ^ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  17. ^ "Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  18. ^ "Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5–6 Robin Hull". Love Snooker. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  19. ^ "Perry Takes Xuzhou Crown". World Snooker. 24 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  20. ^ "Ding Junhui loses in first round of Indian Open". Sky Sports. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  21. ^ "Thepchaiya Un Nooh in semifinal". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  22. ^ "Ricky Walden recovers to oust Thepchaiya, enters Indian Open final". CNN-IBN. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  23. ^ "Asian Order of Merit 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  24. ^ "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  25. ^ "Thepchaiya Reaches a Nooh Level". World Snooker. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  26. ^ "UK Championship: Un-Nooh did not know about missed 147 cash". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  27. ^ "Thepchaiya Un-Nooh retakes THAT final black on TFI Friday". Twitter. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  28. ^ "Ding Fights Back to Beat Un-Nooh". World Snooker. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  29. ^ "Thepchaiya Un-Nooh misses final black in 147 attempt for second time this season". Sky Sports. 9 August 2016.
  30. ^ "Historic Seedings After 2016 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  31. ^ "Un-Nooh Shocks Selby in Yushan". World Snooker. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  32. ^ "Joe Perry sets up World Open final against Ali Carter by beating Neil Robertson". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  33. ^ "Un-Nooh Makes Fuerth Max". World Snooker. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  34. ^ "Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  35. ^ "Speed King Un-Nooh Lands Shoot Out Title". World Snooker. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  36. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

External links[]

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