Noppon Saengkham defeated home favourite John Higgins 6-3 in Edinburgh to secure his spot in the Scottish Open final. The Thailand player is excited to play the reigning champion Gary Wilson over two sessions on Sunday in his first-ever ranking final. Watch live snooker action, including the Scottish Open, on eurosport.com, the Eurosport app, and discovery+.
An emotional Noppon Saengkham confessed he was told to give up snooker after defeating John Higgins to make it to the Scottish Open final.
Noppon survived an early onslaught from Higgins—he was behind 3-1 at the interval—and played some outstanding snooker to win the next five frames and earn a 6-3 victory.
Noppon’s victory gave him his first taste of a ranking final, and on Sunday he will play two sessions against the reigning champion, Gary Wilson.
Following the victory, the Thailand player broke down in tears and confided in Higgins that he had been told he would not succeed in the sport.
“I have been a professional for ten years already,” Noppon declared in the Eurosport studio. Many people told me I couldn’t succeed and that I ought to give up on snooker and find another career. Now that I’m in the final, I’m overjoyed.
When Ronnie O’Sullivan was a pundit for Eurosport, he dismissed the notion that Noppon would not succeed at the greatest level.
“What a fantastic player,” O’Sullivan remarked. “Those who advised him to give up playing are insane.”
Making the final, in O’Sullivan’s opinion, will boost Noppon’s standing in his snooker-crazed native Thailand.
The world number one stated, “James Wattana and Thepchaiya [Un-Nooh] are big fans of snooker in Thailand.” “Noppon is going to be such a big star in Thailand to make it to the final.”It’s fantastic that he will be a superstar in Thailand. He is deserving of it.
