Former champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is one of four players who remain in the hunt for Six Red World Championship glory this week in Bangkok.
The Thai, winner of this event two years ago, delighted his home support with dramatic victories over Stuart Bingham and Liang Wenbo.
The 32 year-old led Bingham 5-1 in the quarter-finals only to see the 2016 runner-up launch a terrific fight back, aided by a maximum break of 75, to force a decider.
However, Un-Nooh steeled himself with a 53 in the last and duly went on to overcome China’s Liang in the last eight 6-4.
When he won this tournament in 2015, it helped spearhead Un-Nooh’s most successful period on the Main Tour as he broke into the top 32 in the world rankings for the first time. The fastest player on the circuit, Un-Nooh is one of the most naturally talented looking cueists in the game but has mostly struggled in the regular 15 red format over the last year or so.
The fastest player on the circuit, Un-Nooh is one of the most naturally talented looking cueists in the game but has mostly struggled in the regular 15 red format over the last year or so.
Although the Six Red World Championship doesn’t count towards the rankings list, the former International Championship semi-finalist will be hoping that another triumph on home soil can reignite his career.
Un-Nooh will play Anthony McGill in the semi-finals after the Scot likewise advanced thanks to 6-5 and 6-4 victories.
The 26 year-old also withstood a late revival to deny Mark King in a thriller before edging David Gilbert by a couple of frames late on Thursday evening.
McGill boasts the superior record against Un-Nooh in their previous encounters with one another but none of those have come in this short distance, altered format.
In the other last four clash, the experienced pair of Mark Williams and Marco Fu will do battle.
Williams, who has fond memories of competing in Thailand with three ranking titles to his name from the country, continued his impressive run of form with a 6-3 win against Kyren Wilson followed by an even more commanding 6-2 rout of Michael Holt.
Fu, meanwhile, easily dispatched of reigning champion Ding Junhui in the last 16 before coming from 5-2 behind to oust Graeme Dott in a clincher.
The overall head-to-head record between Williams and Fu is quite even but the duo does have some prior history under the six red guise, with the former coming out on top 5-1 in a group stage fixture during the 2015 edition of the competition.
With around £80,000 on offer for the champion, the remaining quartet will certainly be serious about going on to capture the trophy.
Both semi-finals will take place on Friday with coverage available on the Eurosport Player.
