Published on July 16, 2005

[SNOOKER] Supoj Saenla of Chiang Mai pulled off the biggest win of his career when he knocked pre-tournament favourite Ratchapol Pu-ob-orm out of the Thailand Masters at the Hua Hin Grand hotel yesterday.

Supoj, who got going early in the match, thoroughly deserved the 4-2 victory. The scoreline could have been much worse for Ratchapol, one of the most celebrated sports heroes of Thailand, had not Supoj faltered on a straight pot on the brown in the fourth frame.

Supoj, who carded a break of 64 in the first frame, said: “This is easily the biggest win of my life, and I am not sure whether I’ll be able to repeat the feat again if we meet in the future.

“Ratchapol is obviously a better player, and I never thought I’d beat him. He did not play well enough at the beginning.

“It will be tougher against Somporn [Kunthawung] in the semi-finals tomorrow, because he is a different sort of player. Somporn’s long on safety, and I always find it difficult against players like that. I love to go for my shots, and Somporn will try his best to close all openings.”

In the first quarter-final of the day, Somporn, also from Chiang Mai, did not allow Wanchana Poomjaeng of Saraburi much space and cantered to a 4-2 victory after a three-hour marathon.

Later Atthasit Mahitthi of Saraburi displayed fine form to defeat Thailand No 1 Phaithoon Phonbun 4-1 for the second time in a row at the same stage.

Atthasit had breaks of 80 and 72 in the third and fourth frames. Atthasit next plays the winner of the quarter-final between young Nittiwat Kanjanasri and Vorawit Suriyasriwan.

Today’s semi-finals will be played on a roll-on, roll-off basis with the first match starting at noon. Both the semi-finals will be televised live by UBC cable-TV network on its Channel 36 from noon.

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Thursday night’s last 16 round matches:

Atthasit Mahitthi beat Noppadon Noppachorn 4-3 (43-73(65), 9-65, 65-38, 57-41, 56-8, 44-65, 84-0); Phaithoon Phonbun beat Surathep Phoochalam 4-3 (11-74, 43-59, 47-10, 65-50, 26-73(59), 63-48, 68-53)

Yesterday’s quarter-finals:

Somporn Kunthawung beat Wanchana Poomjaeng 4-2 (51-64, 57-20, 61-25, 62(51)-29, 25-55, 76-37); Supoj Saenla beat Ratchapol Pu-ob-orm 4-2 (87(64)-14, 76-53, 60-58, 64-70, 21-77, 82-14); Atthasit Mahitthi beat Phaithoon Phonbun 4-1 (76-53, 49-56, 101(80)-16, 72(72)-0, 55-21)

The Nation, Agencies

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