Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh delighted the home crowd as he captured the Six Red World Championship with an 8-2 defeat of Liang Wenbo in Bangkok.
The 30 year-old was 1-0 and 2-1 down early on to his Chinese opponent but rattled off seven frames in succession to grab global glory and the £45,000 winner’s cheque.
Un-Nooh, who has been a professional on the Main Tour since 2009, has rarely threatened in the more traditional 15-red format and has only played one match so far this season, although improved his performances last campaign by reaching a final of an Asian Tour event and the last four of the Indian Open.
The 2008 world amateur champion, Un-Nooh recorded triumphs over Crucible world champion Stuart Bingham and former world no.1 Judd Trump to reach the quarter-finals, before a brace of victories over fellow Thais brought him to the final.
In the showpiece match, Un-Nooh dominated despite finding himself adrift early on, and coasted to victory with a high break of 72 in the final.
The six red version hasn’t kicked off as many predicted it would a decade or so ago, but it is popular in countries like Thailand so Un-Nooh’s success will certainly prove popular there.
It will be interesting to see if the confidence Un-Nooh gains from this win will translate into better results on the regular circuit.
Pingback: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Wins Snooker Shoot-Out - SnookerHQ