Ng Defends British Open Crown
Ng On Yee has defeated Mink Nutcharut 4-3 following a thrilling conclusion to the Landywood British Women’s Open to complete the successful defence of her title at the Landywood Snooker Club, Walsall, England.
The victory is the second ranking crown of the season for Hong Kong China’s Ng following her success at the US Open last August and will see her consolidate her position in second place in the world rankings.
Ng has now claimed 22 ranking titles since her first win back in 2012 which has seen her reach a significant milestone as she has equalled the total of Stacey Hillyard to move into the top five most successful players on the all-time WWS list.
The 34-year-old was close to her best throughout the weekend as she scored four of the top five breaks during the tournament, including a near-flawless century break of 113 during her quarter-final victory against compatriot So Man Yan on Sunday.
Comfortable wins against England’s Laura Killington and So, took Ng into the semi-finals where she would face 19-year-old Thai star Narucha Phoemphul, who enjoyed a career-best result 3-0 breakthrough success against six-time British Open champion Reanne Evans in the quarter-finals to reach only her second ranking event semi-final.
Having shared the opening four frames, Ng responded strongly with breaks of 46 and a match-clinching 82 to reach her first ranking event final since last the Australian Open final last October.
As was the case in Sydney and also at Landywood last season, Mink Nutcharut would await in the title match after the world number one defeated Jasmine Bolsover, Chan Wai Lam and Rebecca Kenna, who notably took out world champion Bai Yulu in the quarter-finals.
It would be Ng who would make a flying start in the title match as she quickly hit breaks of 51, 31, 54 and 69 to move to within a frame of victory at 3-0.
However, Thailand’s Mink would not be so easily defeated and would respond with 45 of her own to break her duck, before coming back from 49 points behind in frame five with just three reds remaining to steal the frame and continue her comeback.
The world number one would duly add the following frame to extend an incredible statistic of having now been involved in five consecutive deciding-frame finishes in ranking event finals on the WWS Tour, dating back to the Australian Open.
This time Ng was not to be denied as a 35 break would give her what would prove to be a crucial advantage on what would prove to be a tense final frame which she would ultimately close out on the colours to claim a landmark success.
Side-Tournaments
There were also to be successful title defences in the Under-21 and Seniors tournaments after Ellise Scott and Tessa Davidson claimed victories in their respective categories.
Little under a year from her maiden junior success at the same event, 13-year-old Scott defeated Laura Killington, Zoe Killington and Hong Kong China’s Chan Wai Lam 2-0 in the final to not only earn her third title to date, but to also move to number one in the Under-21 rankings for the first time in her career.
In the Seniors competition dominant number one Tessa Davidson would claim her third British Open crown for players aged over-40 following a 2-0 success against Scotland’s Deborah Fladgate, who reached her maiden final earlier in the weekend.
There would be a double success for Davidson after the world number nine also defeated Guernsey’s Kate Le Gallez – also involved in her first WWS final – to win the Challenge Cup crown on Sunday.
As always, World Women’s Snooker would like to thank everyone who contributed to a fantastic tournament, in particular our title sponsors the Landywood Snooker Club, as well as TYPLive and Tai Chengzhe for helping us to provide a high-quality live stream with commentary from the semi-final stages.
The 2024/25 season will conclude with the World Women’s Snooker Championship from 20-27 May 2025 in Dongguan Changping, with entries to open soon.
