Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh sent shock waves through the Indian Open World ranking snooker tournament by ousting defending champion Ding Junhui 4-3 in a first round match here on Wednesday.
The 29-year old Un-Nooh displayed nerves of steel to tame top seed and World No.4 Junhui who, after losing the first two frames, came roaring back to take the next three aided by two superb century breaks of 102 and 119 for a 3-2 advantage only to see the Thai respond with runs of 58 in the sixth and 66 and 46 in the decider to seal the match.
Junhui, at 27, is at the peak of his career but going through a lean patch. On the day, the Chinese ran into a determined Un-Nooh who thus posted his first win in two meetings.
"He played better. I am not having a good season, but today's match was an excellent preparation for me for the upcoming major tournaments," said Junhui.
Un-Nooh jumped to a 2-0 lead with Junhui committing uncharacteristic errors, but the match turned dramatically when the Thai fluffed on the yellow when ahead by 16 points in the third frame. Junhui swiftly cleared the table to reduce the leeway.
"I played a hurried shot on the yellow as I was anxious to get position on the green and he punished me for that mistake," said Un-Nooh who has had an excellent season with a victory over former double World champion Mark Williams on way to the final of a minor ranking tournament in China in January.
Junhui raced away with the fourth and fifth frames with two great clearances of 109 and 119 to go 3-2 up and looked well on his way in the sixth when a promising big break ended on 38 as he missed an easy centre-pocket red. Un-Nooh needed no second invitation as he put in a break of 58 clearance to make it 3-3.
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"There was a kick on the red when I played the shot and so it missed the pocket," said Junhui, who has had a poor run this season with just one title (as against five the previous season) in 12 outings.
In the decider, Un-Nooh got an early opening and he crafted a fine break of 66 and followed it up with a run of 46 to score the biggest win of his career.
Completing a fine day for Thailand was Dechawat Poomjaeng who beat compatriot Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon 4-1 to also enter the second round.
Earlier in the day, John Higgins, the four-time world champion, ran into top gear after scrappy five frames with a break of 136, the highest of the tournament so far, to post a 4-2 win over fellow-Scot Jamie Burnett.
The results (Main Draw):
Round 1: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) bt Ding Junhui (China) 4-3: 76-22, 74-01, 46-77, 32-106 (102), 18-119 (119), 70 (58)-38, 113 (66)-00; Dechawat Poomjaeng (Thailand) bt Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon (Thailand) 4-1: 110 (92)-00, 61-17, 00-107 (87), 85-08, 71-08; David Morris (Ireland) bt David Gilbert (England) 4-0: 69-49, 76-55 (51), 60-30, 85 (78)-20; John Higgins (Scotland) bt Jamie Burnett (Scotland) 4-2: 68-15, 65 (52)-44, 54-06, 34-53, 00-72, 136 (136)-00; Mark Davis (England) bt Anthony Hamilton (England) 4-2: 67-29, 34-85 (53), 71-40, 71-26, 27-68 (64), 77-00; Tian Pengfei (China) bt Lyu Haotian (China) 4-1: 81-57, 91-31, 94 (57)-38, 00-83 (56), 75-12; Matthew Selt (England) bt Joel Walker (England) 4-0: 66-16, 53-20, 103 (103)-00, 60-19; Anthony McGill (Scotland) bt Tom Ford (England) 4-0: 65-54, 104 (67)-00, 83 (75)-29, 69-04; Kyren Wilson (England) bt Alan McManus (Scotland) 4-0: 97-34, 89-24, 67-48, 61-00; Ricky Walden (England) bt Rory McLeod (England) 4-1: 68-31, 75 (75)-02, 100 (85)-35, 59 (52)-79, 81-11; Michael White (England) bt Cao Yupeng (China) 4-3: 14-66, 106 (97)-00, 64-35, 96 (96)-00, 31-71, 61-69, 116 (77)-13; Joe Perry (England) bt Marcus Campbell (Scotland) 4-2: 125 (69)-00, 34-71 (51), 30-59, 94 (77)-00, 57-38, 78 (78)-18; Rod Lawler (England) bt Sam Baird (England) 4-0: 86 (86)-08, 63-11, 75-44, 92-00; Chris Wakelin (England) bt Rhys Clark (Scotland) 4-2: 26-71, 96 (70)-13, 65-47, 73 (57)-22, 29-79 (52), 84-51; Adam Duffy (England) bt Gary Wilson (England) 4-3: 66-84, 11-70 (68), 76-38, 68-09, 04-73, 85 (80)-01, 60-20.