Semis Set as Wongharuthai Stuns On Yee
The semi-final line-up at the 2019 World Women’s Snooker Championship has now been confirmed following a dramatic day at the Hi-End Snooker Club in Bangkok, Thailand which saw the defending champion Ng On Yee defeated at the quarter-final stages.
The day began with the last 16 round which saw smooth progress for the star names including all the top four in the world ranking list, 12-time European champion Wendy Jans and World Cup winning duo Waratthanun Sukritthanes and Baipat Siripaporn of Thailand.
It was to prove an altogether more dramatic evening session however as three-time world champion Ng On Yee was upset by home hero Nutcharut Wongharuthai, who won 4-1 to reach the semi-finals of the biggest competition in women’s snooker for the first time in her career.
Still just 19, Wongharuthai had previously defeated On Yee on two occasions earlier this season and shrugged off her defeat in the round robin stages to India’s Varshaa Sanjeev to record one of the biggest victories of her career to date.
Having dropped the opening frame, ‘Mink’ responded by claiming the next to move 2-1 in front, before then claiming an ultimately pivotal fourth frame from behind after On Yee conceded a number of penalty points when snookered on the final two reds. Although On Yee would not surrender her crown lightly, there was not to be a comeback and Wongharuthai added the fifth frame to claim a significant victory which means that On Yee will not compete in the semi-finals of the World Championship for the first time since 2012.
Awaiting Wongharuthai in the last four is Wendy Jans who enjoyed a more straightforward 4-0 success against another young Thai talent Ploychompoo Laokiatphong. Following her morning victory against India’s Arantxa Sanchis, the Belgian star wasted little time in progressing to her fourth career world semi-final and first since 2014, maintaining her flawless record so far in Thailand having won 17 frames from 17 played.
in the top half of the draw 11-time world champion Reanne Evans survived a scare against another Thai player in Waratthanun Sukritthanes to prevail a 4-2 winner.
After taking the opener, Evans, who is looking to claim her first world title since 2016, fell 2-1 behind and was within a ball of dropping the fourth frame to stand on the brink of a shock exit at the last eight stage. Having potted pink and black to draw level at 2-2 however, Evans quickly added the following two frames with breaks of 50 and 54 to progress to an incredible 17th consecutive world semi-final.
For the second consecutive match she will now face a member of Thailand’s World Cup winning team from earlier in the week after Baipat Siripaporn edged out third seed Rebecca Kenna 4-3 on the black in this evening’s final match to reach the last four for the first time in this event.
It was Siripaporn who was never headed during the match as she led 2-0 and 3-2, but Kenna hit back with a break of 41 to take the match into a deciding frame as she looked to reach the semi-finals for the fourth straight year.
After several hours of high-quality play from both however, the match would cruelly be settled by a fluke on the final pink for Baipat in the decider, which left her in perfect position on the match ball black that she would not miss.
The tournament concludes with both the semi-finals and final on Sunday 23 June, with the last four matches due to start at 11:00am local time.
