Sakchai Sim Ngam (born 12 July 1952) is a Thai former 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. He won the IBSF World Snooker Championship in 1995.

Career

A former kickboxer, Sim Ngam won the 1984

ACBS Asian Snooker Championship The ACBS Asian Snooker Championship is the premier non-professional snooker tournament in Asia. The event series is sanctioned by the Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports and started from 1984. Mostly, the winner of the tournament qualifies for th ...

with an 8–5 defeat of Vichien Sangthong in the final. The following year, he reached the final again but lost 5–8 to

Gary Kwok Gary Kwok (born June 11, 1966) is best known as a Canadian race driver. He has raced in the Hong Kong Touring Car Championship, the Canadian Touring Car Championship, the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and the Pirelli World Challenge. ...

. Sim Ngam was accepted as a professional by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) in 1985, becoming the first Thai professional player. His first professional match resulted in a 5–2 win against

David Greaves David Greaves (1 September 1946 – 5 October 2019) was an English former professional snooker player. Life David Greaves was born 1 September 1946 in St-Annes-on-Sea (Lancashire). In his early life he went to Stanley Junior School in Clev ...

in the first qualifying round

1985 Matchroom Trophy The 1985 Matchroom Trophy (officially the 1985 Goya Matchroom Trophy) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 23 September to 6 October 1985 at Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Cliff Thorburn won the tou ...

, before he was defeated 4–5 by Les Dodd in the following round. In his next tournament, the 1985 Grand Prix, he recorded 5–3 wins over both

Derek Mienie Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of ''Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler". Common variants of the name are ...

and Fred Davis to reach the third qualifying round, where he was eliminated 1–5 by Eugene Hughes. He also reached the third qualifying round of the

1985 UK Championship The 1985 UK Championship (also known as the 1985 Coral UK Championship for sponsorship reasons) was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 15 November and 1 December 1985 at the Guild Hall in Preston, England. ...

, losing 4–9 to Joe Johnson after defeating Roger Bales and

Mick Fisher Mick Fisher (born 12 July 1944) is an English former professional snooker player. He appeared once at the main stage of the World Snooker Championship during his career, and attained a highest professional ranking of 37th, in the Snooker world ...

. He never progressed further in a professional tournament than he did in these events. He was part of the Rest of the World Team for the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

that was eliminated after losing 0–5 to Canada in their first match. Sim Ngam played one , which he lost 6–102 to Bill Werbeniuk. In the qualifying rounds for the

1986 World Snooker Championship The 1986 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 1986 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1986 at the Crucibl ...

, Sim Ngam whitewashed Bernard Bennett 10–0 before losing in the to

Paul Medati Paul Medati (14 November 1943 – 29 November 2008) was an English professional snooker and pool player. Career Medati was born in Ordsall, Salford, Lancashire to Maltese parents, and attended St. Joseph's Primary School. After playing sno ...

, 9–10. Sim Ngam resigned his membership of WPBSA in 1987, when ranked 80th, and did not play in any professional events again until he was a wild card entrant to the

1995 Thailand Open The 1995 Kloster Thailand Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 10–18 March 1995 at the Montien Riverside Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. James Wattana won the tournament and defended his title from the previou ...

1996 Thailand Open The 1996 Singha Thailand Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 11 and 17 March 1996 at the Montien Riverside Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. Alan McManus won the tournament, defeating Ken Doherty 9–8 in the fin ...

, and 1996 Asian Classic. His highest snooker world ranking was 80. He won the amateur 1995 IBSF World Snooker Championship, defeating

David Lilley David William Lilley (born 31 October 1977 in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire) is a Scottish former professional footballer who usually plays at centre back but has also played at right back. Lilley was most recently the manager of Bellshill Athl ...

11–7 after trailing 5–7 at the end of the first day of the final. As defending champion at the

1996 IBSF World Snooker Championship The 1996 IBSF World Snooker Championship was an amateur snooker tournament that took place from 15 November to 30 November 1996 in New Plymouth, New Zealand It was the 23rd edition of the IBSF World Snooker Championship and also doubled as a World ...

, he was 2–4 behind Stan Gorski in the last 16 round, but then equalised at 4–4 after needing Gorski to concede points from two in the eighth frame. Gorski made a break of 51 in the deciding frame and won the match 5–4.

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 3 (1 title)

Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title)

Amateur finals: 4 (3 titles)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sim Ngam, Sakchai Sakchai Sim Ngam 1952 births Living people Sakchai Sim Ngam