Dechawat Poomjaeng ( ''Dechāwạt Phùmcæ̂ng'', born July 11, 1978) is a Thai professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in ...

player.

Career

Early career

He won the 2010

IBSF World Snooker Championship The IBSF World Snooker Championship (also known as the World Amateur Snooker Championship) is the premier non-professional snooker tournament in the world. The event series is sanctioned by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation. A nu ...

in Damascus, Syria, defeating India's Pankaj Advani 10–7 in the final. This earned him a place on the professional Main Tour for the 2011–12 season.

Debut season

Due to being a new player on the tour and therefore unranked he would need to win four qualifying matches to reach the ranking event main draws. He came closest to doing this in the World Open when he beat

Andrew Pagett Andrew Pagett (born 25 April 1982) is a Welsh professional snooker player. Career Early career He played on Challenge Tour from 2003 to 2005, and first qualified for the Main Tour in 2008–09, but lost his place after just one season. He ...

and

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...

, before losing to Michael Holt 4–5. Poomjaeng played all 12 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events throughout the season, with his best finish coming in Event 8 where he beat seven-time world champion

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...

and

Stephen Maguire Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional in ...

to reach the last 16, but succumbed 1–4 to

Ben Woollaston Ben Woollaston (born 14 May 1987) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. His sole professional title came at the minor-ranking third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. Woollaston's only ranking event final came at the ...

. Poomjaeng finished the season ranked world number 82, comfortably outside the top 64 who retain their places for the 2012–13 season. However, his final placing of 57th on the PTC

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

was good enough to earn him a spot for next season.

2012/2013 season

The 2012–13 season saw Poomjaeng qualify for the main draw of a ranking event for the first time. This came in the

2013 German Masters The 2013 German Masters (officially the 2013 Betfair German Masters) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 30 January – 3 February 2013 at the Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany. It was the sixth ranking event of th ...

, by defeating Yu Delu and

Fergal O'Brien Fergal O'Brien (born 8 March 1972) is an Irish professional snooker player who plays on the main professional tour since 1991. Ranked within the world's top 64 players from 1994 to 2022, he has reached his highest position of 9th in the 2000 ...

. He lost 2–5 to

Barry Hawkins Barry Hawkins (born 23 April 1979) is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season, when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championship ...

in the first round in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. Poomjaeng continued his form by winning four matches to reach the China Open. Once at the venue in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, he saw off Zhu Yinghui 5–2 in the wildcard round, but then lost 3–5 to

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host *Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

in the first round. In the Players Tour Championship events this season Poomjaeng's best results were last 16 defeats in the First and Fourth events, losing to

Alan McManus Alan McManus (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and current commentator who works for Eurosport. A mainstay of the world's top sixteen during the 1990s and 2000s, he has won two ranking events, the 1994 Du ...

and

Mark Joyce Mark Joyce (born 11 August 1983) is an English professional snooker player who lives in Walsall. He began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2003. Joyce enjoyed an outstanding amateur career, winning the European Under-19 Cha ...

respectively. He was ranked 42nd on the PTC Order of Merit. Poomjaeng beat Michael Leslie 10–4, Liu Chuang 10–9, Anthony Hamilton 10–4 and Jamie Cope 10–3 to qualify for the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

for the first time. He faced sixth seed

in the first round and produced a huge shock with the world number 70 Poomjaeng winning 10–9, with a composed 63 break in the final frame. The crowd warmed to Poomjaeng as he walked to the wrong table at the start of play and animatedly expressed his emotions throughout the match, including applauding his own safety shot. He played Michael White in the second round and lost the fourth frame without a ball having been potted due to missing the reds three times. The rules of snooker state that if a red can be seen full ball and is missed on three consecutive shots, the frame is conceded. Poomjaeng lost the session 1–7 and went on to be defeated 3–13. His cheque of £16,000 for reaching the last 16 more than doubled his previous career earnings since turning professional in 2011. Poomjaeng finished the season ranked world number 67.

2013/2014 season

In his opening match of the season, Poomjaeng defeated Darren Cook 5–1 to qualify for the

2013 Wuxi Classic The 2013 Sports Lottery Cup Wuxi Classic was a professional ranking snooker tournament held between 17 and 23 June 2013 at the Wuxi City Sports Park Stadium in Wuxi, China. It was the first ranking event of the 2013/2014 season. The tournamen ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

where he beat

Dominic Dale Dominic Dale (born Christopher Dale on 29 December 1971) is a Welsh professional snooker player and snooker commentator and presenter for the BBC and Eurosport. Career Dale was born in Coventry, England. He won the Welsh Amateur Championship, ...

5–1 in the first round, before losing by a reverse of this scoreline to

John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...

. Poomjaeng then won three matches to qualify for the

Australian Goldfields Open The Australian Goldfields Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament. The final champion was John Higgins in 2015. History Australia had previously hosted the 1971 and 1975 World Snooker Championships, as well as several other high-pr ...

, but lost 5–1 to

in the first round. Poomjaeng won the bronze medal at the

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

thanks to a 3–2 victory over Brazil's

Igor Figueiredo Igor Almeida Figueiredo (born October 11, 1977) is a Brazilian former professional snooker player. Career Amateur career Prior to entering the PIOS tour in 2009, Figueiredo had only played on 10-foot tables in his home country. Despite this, hi ...

. He lost in the last 32 of the Indian Open to

Liang Wenbo Liang Wenbo (; born 25 March 1987) is a Chinese professional snooker player based at the Oracle Snooker Club, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. Liang, who plays left-handed, has reached one Triple Crown final, made three Masters appearances, and ...

and at the

UK Championship The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan ...

, lost 6–0 in the second round to world number four

Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player, a former world champion and former world number one. Widely regarded as one of the sport's most talented players, he is currently sixth on the list of all-time ranki ...

, having defeated fellow Thai player

Thepchaiya Un-Nooh Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (, ; born 18 April 1985) is a Thai professional snooker player. He has won one Snooker world rankings, ranking event, the 2019 Snooker Shoot Out, and finished as runner-up in the 2019 World Open (snooker), 2019 World Open. H ...

6–5 in the opening round. Poomjaeng eliminated defending champion

Ali Carter Allister Carter (born 25 July 1979) is an English professional snooker player. He has twice been the World Championship runner-up, in 2008 and 2012, losing both finals to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has won four ranking titles and briefly reached numb ...

5–4 in the opening round of the

German Masters The German Masters is a professional ranking snooker tournament held at the Tempodrom in Berlin, Germany since 2011. The 2021 event was held at Milton Keynes in England because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zhao Xintong is the reigning champion, ...

, after having trailed 4–2, but was then beaten in a deciding frame by

Xiao Guodong Xiao Guodong (, born 10 February 1989) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships. Career 2007–2010 Xiao appeared as a wildcard in the 2007 China Open, and beat t ...

in the second round. His fourth exit in the last 32 of a ranking event this season came at the China Open as

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight cue action and his long potting. Born in Harlow, Essex and r ...

whitewashed him 5–0. Poomjaeng saw off

Zhang Anda Zhang Anda (born 25 December 1991) is a Chinese professional snooker player, who made his debut on the Main Tour for the 2009–10 season. He qualified by winning the ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship. Standing at 5 ft. 3 in. tall, h ...

and Craig Steadman to stand one match away from playing in the

for the second year in a row, but from 4–2 ahead he lost eight of the last nine frames against 1997 champion

Ken Doherty Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter. As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur C ...

to miss out. He rose 20 spots to be ranked world number 47 at the end of the season.

2014/2015 season

At the

Paul Hunter Classic The Paul Hunter Classic is a non-ranking snooker tournament. It changed from a ranking event to a 16-man invitational event in 2019. From 2010 to 2015 it was part of the Players Tour Championship. Barry Hawkins is the reigning champion. After los ...

, Poomjaeng won three matches and then defeated

Neil Robertson Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...

4–2 to reach the quarter-finals where he lost 4–2 to

Rod Lawler Rod Lawler (born 12 July 1971) is an English professional snooker player. He is noted for his slow playing style which gave rise to his nickname, "Rod the Plod". After turning professional in 1990, Lawler has reached one ranking tournament fin ...

. This result would later help him finish 32nd on the Order of Merit. Poomjaeng's first appearance at a ranking event this season was at the

International Championship The International Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. The reigning champion is Judd Trump. History The event was introduced in the 2012/2013 season. It was named as the "first overseas 'major'", because the tournament h ...

, but he was beaten 6–2 by

in the first round. At the

he recorded wins over Andrew Norman and Michael Holt, before

Marco Fu Marco Fu Ka-chun, MH, JP (, born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time snooker world rankings, ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix (snooker), 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian ...

knocked him out 6–3 in the third round. Fu also eliminated Poomjaeng in the second round of the Welsh Open this time 4–2. Poomjaeng won three frames in a row from 3–1 down against Robertson in the first round of the China Open with the match eventually going into a deciding frame. Poomjaeng took it on the final black and then whitewashed

Jack Lisowski Jack Adam Lisowski (born 25 June 1991) is an English professional snooker player from Churchdown, Gloucestershire. He turned professional in 2010 by finishing first in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. A left-handed player, he is known for his atta ...

5–0 to play in the last 16 of a ranking event for the only time this season, where he lost 5–1 against Gary Wilson.

2015/2016 season

Poomjaeng was narrowly beaten 6–5 by Michael White in the first round of the

. He defeated

Chris Melling Christopher "Mello" Melling (born 21 September 1984) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for England (Under-16s, and Under-18s), and as a for Great Bri ...

6–4 and Ryan Day 6–2 at the

and recovered from 5–0 down against

to win 6–5 and reach the fourth round. He potted just 13 points in the first five frames against

Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the ...

and there was no comeback this time as he lost 6–1. A pair of 4–1 victories over Craig Steadman and

Robert Milkins Robert Milkins (born 6 March 1976) is an English professional snooker player. Considered one of the most naturally talented and quickest players in the game, Milkins has been a mainstay on the tour since regaining his tour card in 1998. Milkins ...

saw Poomjaeng reach the third round of the Welsh Open, where he was beaten 4–3 by Yu Delu. Poomjaeng lost 5–4 to Ryan Day in the first round of the China Open, but saw off

Eden Sharav Eden Sharav ( he, עדן שרב; born 30 April 1992) is an Israeli- Scottish former professional snooker player. He was born in Israel to an Israeli father and a Scottish-born mother. Career Amateur In 2010 Sharav reached the final of the Scott ...

10–4 and

Robin Hull Robin Hull (born 16 August 1974) is a Finnish former professional snooker player. For some time, he was the sole Nordic player on the game's main tour. He is known as a solid -builder, having compiled over 150 competitive during his career, a ...

10–5 to reach the final qualifying round for the

. He fell just short of playing at the Crucible again as he lost 10–9 to Mitchell Mann.

2016/2017 season

Poomjaeng had an extremely poor 2016–17 season. He did not get past the last 64 of a single event and was on a losing run of 11 matches until he beat Chen Zhe 10–7 in

qualifying. Poomjaeng lost 10–4 to

Graeme Dott Graeme Dott (born 12 May 1977) is a Scottish professional snooker player and snooker coach from Larkhall. He turned professional in 1994 and first entered the top 16 in 2001. He has won two ranking titles, the 2006 World Snooker Championship a ...

in the next round and finished 70th in the rankings having started the season 45th. He did not enter Q School and has therefore been relegated from the snooker tour. He entered Q School in 2018 and lost in the final round of the first event to Sam Craigie and then lost again in the final round of the second event to

Zhao Xintong Zhao Xintong (; born 3 April 1997) is a Chinese professional snooker player. Long considered one of the brightest talents in the game, he won his first ranking title (also his first Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown title) at the 2021 UK Cham ...

Personal life

Poomjaeng is based in the Star Academy in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

and shares a house with four other Thai players, including former world number three James Wattana, whom Poomjaeng has described as a big brother. His real elder brother is Suchakree "Kwan" Poomjaeng, who has played on the professional snooker tour in the past.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

References

External links

Pro Snooker Blog profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poomjaeng, Dechawat Dechawat Poomjaeng 1978 births Living people Asian Games medalists in cue sports Dechawat Poomjaeng Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Cue sports players at the 2010 Asian Games World Games bronze medalists Competitors at the 2013 World Games