Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham went on a five frame blitz to beat home favourite John Higgins 6-3 and reach his first ever ranking event final at the BetVictor Scottish Open in Edinburgh.
World number 26 Saengkham has come close to earning a shot at snooker glory on several occasions. He agonisingly fell short in all four of his ranking event semi-final appearances to date at the 2018 Welsh Open, 2018 World Open, 2022 British Open and the 2023 World Grand Prix.
Saengkham’s first final sees him pitted against defending champion Gary Wilson, who came through a thrilling re-spotted black in the decider to beat Zhou Yuelong 6-5 earlier. The title match will be played over the best of 17 frames with the winner receiving £80,000 and the Stephen Hendry Trophy.
If Saengkham were to win tomorrow he would be come the third Thai player to win a ranking title, following in the footsteps of the legendary James Wattana and current tour contemporary Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
Defeat sees 31-time ranking event winner Higgins continue his quest for a maiden Scottish Open title. The Glaswegian was runner-up in 2016 to Marco Fu and 2021 to Luca Brecel. Higgins also lost a semi-final to Neil Robertson back in 2017.
It was Higgins who delighted a packed crowd in the early stages to gain a stranglehold on proceedings. Breaks of 130 and 92 helped him into a 3-1 advantage ahead of the mid-session interval. However, when play resumed Saengkham took charge.
An incredible clearance of 32 saw him take the fifth on the black to make it 3-2, before a century break of 133 restored parity at 3-3. He claimed a tight seventh and then fired in runs of 120 and 83 to wrap up a landmark 6-3 victory. After getting over the line, Saengkham was in tears and was embraced by Higgins as the pair received a standing ovation from the packed out arena.
“When I was 3-1 down I just had a 15 minute break. I felt nervous and went back to talk with my wife and little Believe (his daughter). I knew it could either happen again and I could lose in another semi-final or I could win today. I just tried to stay in the game and control something. I did it today,” said 31-year-old Saengkham. “Tomorrow anything can happen. If it can be my day, then it will be very good for me.
“John said that I was special, that he hopes I win tomorrow and that I can do it. I can’t really remember as I was so happy at that time.”
Higgins said: “I’m gutted because I’d dearly have loved to have won it here. Take nothing away from Noppon. He was fabulous in the last five frames. I know I missed a few positional shots, I should have went 4-1 in front and ran out of position. He put me under pressure. His long potting was incredible. At the end he was crying and it is his first final. You have to give him all of the credit in the world. I know Gary is a lovely boy but I’d love to see Noppon win. It would be his first title and Gary had his first here last year.”
