Tough assignment
Debutant Thepchaiya faces four-time champ Higgins at Crucible
When Thepchaiya Un-nooh walks into the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield for the first time in his career this afternoon, he will be accompanied by Carabao’s hit song Made in Thailand.
He initially chose Return Happiness to Thailand, composed by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, but made the switch after the insinuation that he picked the military leader’s song for political reasons.
Thepchaiya will become the fifth Thai player in history to feature in the world snooker championship’s final stage, but, as was the case with three of his other compatriots in the past, odds point to an early exit.
The other four Thais who have played at The Crucible are former world No.3 Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm (James Wattana), former world amateur champions Chuchart Trairattanapradit and Dechawat Poomjaeng, and former world U21 champion Noppon Saengkham.
Ratchapol is the only Thai so far to go past the second round and reach the semi-finals of the world professional championship.
Thepchaiya, the world No.58-ranked from Nakhon Nayok, faces “Wizard of Wishaw” John Higgins of Scotland in the last 32 round today.
While Thepchaiya will be making his debut in the tournament which offers snooker’s biggest prize, Higgins, No.5 in the latest rankings, has already lifted the trophy four times.
On the eve of the battle yesterday, Thepchaiya, himself a former world amateur title-holder, was under no illusion about the enormity of task he faces in his first round battle with Higgins, but the gifted Thai was under no pressure as well.
“No matter which way you look at it, I am the underdog,” Thepchaiya told the Bangkok Post.
“I have never beaten Higgins and I have no qualms whatsoever about admitting that he is better in every aspect of the game. This relieves me of a lot of pressure.
“There is no pressure on me at the moment, but I am not sure what it would be like when I am inside the arena.
“This is the first time I have made it to The Crucible. It’s a special occasion for me and I’ll try my best to turn into a memorable one as well.
“Upsets do happen in every sport. I hope one will happen in my game against Higgins as well.”
In yesterday’s action, China’s Ding Junhui fired a century and seven more breaks over 50 as he stormed to a 10-3 win over compatriot Xiao Guodong in the first round of the world championship.
Ding’s ultimate ambition is to become the first Chinese player to lift snooker’s most famous trophy, and he has come close in recent years, reaching the final in 2016 and the semis in 2017.
On the evidence of his tremendous display against Xiao, the 31-year-old is well set for another crack at the title. World No.3 Ding returns to the Crucible baize on Sunday to face Anthony McGill or Ryan Day in the last 16.
From 2-0 down in the first session on Monday, Ding won six of the next seven frames with top runs of 68, 124, 57 and 72. And he needed just 51 minutes today to add the four frames he needed, making breaks of 61, 51, 78 and 98.
On Monday, world No.51 Jamie Jones stunned former champion Shaun Murphy with a 10-9 victory.
Welshman Jones dumped the 2005 winner out after holding his nerve to seal the deciding frame 72-1.
Mark Allen saw off Crucible debutant Liam Highfield 10-5 to move into the second round.
The 32-year-old will now meet Joe Perry in the second round, after the world No.22 pulled off a shock victory over defending champion Mark Selby.