Noppon Saengkham (; born 15 July 1992) is a Thai professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

player.

Career

Early years

In April 2009, Saengkham lost in the final of the

ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship The ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship is the premier non-professional junior snooker tournament in Asia. The event series is sanctioned by the Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports and started from 1993. In most of the seasons, the winner ...

1–5 to

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 ...

. He went one better at the 2009

IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship The IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship (also known as the World Amateur Under-21 Snooker Championship) is the premier non-professional junior snooker tournament in the world. The event series is sanctioned by the International Billiards and S ...

by claiming the title with a 9–8 win over

Soheil Vahedi Soheil Vahedi ( fa, سهیل واحدی, born March 15, 1989) is an Iranian former professional snooker player. Career In 2009 Vahedi entered the World Amateur Under-21 Snooker Championships in his home country in Kish, Iran in which he reached ...

in the final. It also secured his place on the main snooker tour for the 2010/2011 season.

Professional debut

He lost his first three matches as a professional, only picking up one frame in the process before beating

Luca Brecel Luca Brecel (born 8 March 1995) is a Belgian professional snooker player. He won the European Under-19 title at the age of 14 and went on to break Stephen Hendry's record as the youngest player ever to compete at the Crucible Theatre. He made hi ...

3–1 in qualifying for the 2010 World Open. He lost to

Martin Gould Martin Gould (born 14 September 1981) is an English professional snooker player from Pinner in the London Borough of Harrow. He has appeared in four ranking finals and won one ranking title, the 2016 German Masters. Career Gould began his prof ...

0–3 in the next round and could only win one more match in the next six months. The closest he came to qualifying for a ranking event came at the Welsh Open where he beat

Matthew Couch Matthew Couch (born 30 June 1974) is an English former professional snooker player. Career During a professional career lasting from 1992 to 2012, Couch had little success in ranking events, although he reached the quarter-finals of the UK Ch ...

4–2 and

Adrian Gunnell Adrian Gunnell (born 24 August 1972) is an English former professional snooker player from Telford. He has reached the last-16 in four world ranking events (three in Asia, in three different seasons, and at the 2008 Grand Prix), but has yet to ...

4–0, but then lost 1–4 to

Nigel Bond Nigel Bond (born 15 November 1965) is an English former professional snooker player. Bond competed on the main tour from 1989 to 2022, and was ranked within the world's top 16 players between 1992 and 1999, peaking at 5th for the 1996–97 s ...

. Saengkham ended his first season ranked world number 92 which relegated him from the tour. Saengkham did not play a match in a professional snooker event during the 2011/2012 season. In the 2012/2013 season he came through Group G of the 2012 Six-red World Championship, but then lost 5–6 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 last 32. He was awarded a wildcard for the 2013 World Open and lost 4–5 to

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 Cham ...

. In April he won the

by defeating Pakistan's Mohammad Majid Ali 6–5 on the final pink. The title earned him a place back on the snooker tour for the 2013/2014 season.

2013/2014 season

In qualifying for the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open, Saengkham 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 ...

5–3 and

Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon ( ''Ṭhnwạtʹhn̒ T̄hirphngṣ̄̒phịbūly̒''; born December 14, 1993) is a Thai former professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2010 as the Asian nomination following his run to the semi-finals of ...

Anthony McGill Anthony McGill (born 5 February 1991) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He is a practice partner of retired snooker player Alan McManus. McGill turned professional in 2010, after finishing fourth in the 2009/2010 PIOS rankings. He wo ...

and Jamie Jones all by 5–1 scorelines to reach the main draw of a ranking event for the first time in his career. He played

Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former world and Masters champion. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his professional ...

in the first round and lost 5–1. He also won through to the last 32 stage of 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 h ...

with victories over

Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and directe ...

and Sean O'Sullivan, before being beaten 6–2 by

Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 World Championship. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murphy is noted for his straight Cue stick, cue action and his lo ...

. Saengkham made it to the second round of the Welsh Open and World Open, but lost to multiple ranking event winners in

Mark Allen Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

and

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 ...

respectively. Saengkham's season ended when he was edged out 10–9 by

Vinnie Calabrese Vincent "Vinnie" Calabrese (born 7 October 1987) is a former Australian professional snooker player from Campbelltown, New South Wales. He was based in Cambridge together with his compatriot Neil Robertson, although he has since moved back to A ...

in the first round of

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, ...

qualifying. He finished the season ranked world number 84.

2014/2015 season

Saengkham defeated

Alfie Burden Alfred Burden (born 14 December 1976) is an English professional snooker player from London. Career Burden originally had his eyes set on making a career as a professional footballer, but a badly broken leg curtailed this ambition. He spent a c ...

6–4 to qualify for 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 ha ...

and beat

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 i ...

6–5, before losing in another deciding frame in the second round to

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 ...

. He was knocked out in the first round of the

6–1 by

. Saengkham eliminated

David Grace David Grace (born 1949 in Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby, Warwickshire, England) is a British motorsport, racing driver and businessman. He was the Chief Executive Officer, CEO at Rockingham Motor Speedway between 2000 and 2002, and oversaw the openi ...

Mitchell Mann Mitchell Mann (born 26 December 1991) is an English professional snooker player. Career Junior Mann first played snooker aged 9, after being forced to quit football after a diagnosis of Legg–Calvé–Perthes syndrome, a rare disease which r ...

, Ross Muir and

Kurt Maflin Kurt Graham Maflin (born 8 August 1983) is an English-Norwegian former professional snooker player. A strong break-builder, Maflin has compiled more than 200 century breaks during his career and has made two 147 breaks in professional competitio ...

at the Lisbon Open to reach his first quarter-final in a ranking event, where he lost 4–2 to Maguire. He was unable to build on this during the rest of the season as he lost eight of his last nine matches with his only win coming against German amateur Lukas Kleckers in the first round of

qualifying. Saengkham finished the year outside of the top 64 in the world rankings (he was 71st), but his good play in the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

events saw him placed 43rd on the Order of Merit to earn a new two-year tour card.

2015/2016 season

In his homeland, Saengkham beat the likes of reigning world champion

and ranking event winners Michael White and Joe Perry to play in the semi-finals of the

2015 Six-red World Championship The 2015 Six-red World Championship (often styled the 2015 SangSom 6-red World Championship for sponsorship and marketing purposes) was a six-red snooker tournament that was held between 7 and 13 September 2015 at the Fashion Island Shopping Mall ...

, where he lost 7–3 to compatriot

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

. A 6–2 win over

saw him qualify for the

for the second year in a row, but he was knocked out 6–4 by

Oliver Lines Oliver Lines (born 16 June 1995) is an English professional snooker player who practices at Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds. He is the son of professional snooker player Peter Lines. Career Amateur Lines switched sports from football to snook ...

in the opening round. He lost 6–5 and 4–3 in the first rounds of both the

and Welsh Open to

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� ...

respectively. Saengkham won a deciding frame against Lines to qualify for the China Open. He shocked

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 ...

5–3 in the first round and then beat

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 ...

5–4 and

5–1 to make the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time. A bad start from Saengkham saw him lose the opening four frames 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 ( ...

, but he then pulled it back to 4–3. Saengkham missed a yellow in the next frame and would be defeated 5–3. His final match of the season was a 10–8 loss to Dott in the second round of

qualifying.

2016/2017 season

Saengkham had to wait until October to win his first match of the season in the main draw of a ranking event when he beat

Michael Georgiou Michael Georgiou (born 18 January 1988) is a British-Cypriot former professional snooker player from Forest Hill. He is a practice partner of Igor Figueiredo and Hammad Miah, who practises at Whetstone Snooker Club. In 2018, Georgiou won his fi ...

4–1 at the

English Open The English Open was a professional golf tournament held in England. First played in 1988, it was an annual event on the European Tour until 2002. After several aborted attempts at reviving the tournament, it returned to the tour schedule in 20 ...

. He lost 4–0 to

in the second round. A 6–0 thrashing of

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 ...

saw him reach the second round of the

, where he made a 131 break to lead

3–2, before going on to be defeated 6–4. He reached the last 32 of the Scottish Open by beating

Craig Steadman Craig Steadman (born 14 July 1982) is an English professional snooker player. Career Early career Steadman began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2001, at the time the second-level professional tour. He reached the quarte ...

and

Aditya Mehta Aditya Mehta (born 31 October 1985 in Mumbai, India) is an Indian former professional snooker player. He participated on the World Snooker Tour for the 2007–08 season, and between 2011 and 2018. He reached a highest world ranking of 49. Mehta ...

, but he was whitewashed 4–0 by

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 ...

. Saengkham defeated

5–3 to qualify for the China Open. A 5–3 victory against

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 ...

followed and he then lost 5–2 to

. After Saengkham overcame

Jak Jones Jak Jones (born 29 July 1993) is a Welsh professional snooker player. Jones was born in Cwmbran, Wales. He became a professional in 2010 at the age of 16, by winning the 2010 European Under 19 Snooker Championship in Malta. Career Professio ...

10–5 and Anthony Hamilton 10–9 he was one win away from qualifying for the

. He overturned a 6–3 deficit against

Lee Walker Lee Walker (born 11 February 1976) is a Welsh former professional snooker player who is the reigning World Seniors Champion. He is both an official WPBSA and SightRight coach. Career After turning professional in 1994 at the age of 18, Walker r ...

to win 10–8 and met

in the first round. Saengkham lost the opening session 8–1 and, though he won three of the next four frames, he was defeated 10–4. The run meant he finished the season 64th in the world rankings.

Personal life

Saengkham's daughter was born in April 2022 in Thailand He couldn't attend the birth, as he was competing in his first round match against Belgian

at the

2022 World Snooker Championship The 2022 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2022 Betfred World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 April to 2 May 2022 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 46th conse ...

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Pro-am finals: 1

Amateur finals: 4 (2 titles)

References

External links

*
Noppon Saengkham
at ''worldsnooker.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Saengkham, Noppon Living people 1992 births

Noppon Saengkham Noppon Saengkham (; born 15 July 1992) is a Thai professional snooker player. Career Early years In April 2009, Saengkham lost in the final of the ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship 1–5 to Zhang Anda. He went one better at the 2009 IBSF ...

Southeast Asian Games medalists in cue sports Competitors at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games Competitors at the 2013 World Games