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Published on August 27, 2007

Supoj, who won the Asian title in June this year, was overjoyed after the final witnessed by a large crowd at the venue.

"I was happy to win the Asian Championship in Pakistan, but today I don't have words to express my joy. This is my biggest achievement so far, it is like a dream come true," he said.

Although there were no significant breaks in the match, it was good enough to keep the crowd on tenterhooks. The two players took turns to execute some awesome pots, punctuated with some unexpected misses.

The start of the match was not an ideal one for Supoj, as he saw Thepchaiya run away with a 2-0 lead.

However, the tide turned in Supoj's favour and he first succeeded in tying the frame score at 2-2 before opening up a massive lead of 4-2, winning four frames in a row.

Thepchaiya then wrested the initiative and took two frames away from Supoj, who by then was firing on all cylinders, to force the match into the deciding ninth frame.

Both players had their chances to win the frame and the match, but once again the element of luck played its role and Supoj was served with an opportunity, that he took gladly to emerge as the national champion.

The victory not only earned Supoj Bt100,000 in cash, but it also helped him overtake veteran Praprut Chaithanasakul to move into the second spot in the national rankings next season.

Thepchaiya received a purse of Bt60,000 for his efforts, and climbed 16 places in the rankings to take the No 6 spot. Thepchaiya collected Bt15,000 for his break of 134 points, which was the highest of the tournament.

Despite his 5-1 loss to Thepchaiya in semi-finals on Friday, Issara Kachaiwong of Chanthaburi has retained his top place in the rankings for the next season.

Final frame scores: Supoj Saenla bt Thepchaiya Un-nooh 5-4 (48-78, 35-67, 70-8, 81-5, 78-19, 65-20, 58-72, 13-61, 62-8)