Maximum man Thepchaiya Un-Nooh comes back to stun Ronnie O'Sullivan in World Open final

A former winner of the Snooker Shoot Out, this is the greatest title triumph of Un-Nooh’s career. He becomes the first player from Thailand to claim a ‘full format’ ranking event since James Wattana’s success on home soil in 1995.

Arguably the quickest player on the professional snooker circuit at present, there was nothing to suggest a deep run for Un-Nooh this week at the Yushan Sports Centre.

The 40-year-old - ranked 39th in the world before he hit a ball in the Far East - had not reached a quarter-final this season, and not been to the semi-finals of a ranking event since the 2022 Scottish Open.

But in another example of how deeply talented the top-flight snooker roster is these days, Un-Nooh saw off all that stood in his way, dispatching world number one Judd Trump in the semi-finals and then the sport’s widely regarded greatest player of all-time O’Sullivan in the final.

Un-Nooh - who had previously been the runner-up in this tournament back in 2019 - collects by far the biggest pay day of his career, £175,000, and gatecrashes his way into the Tour Championship that begins in Manchester later this month. He also has an outside chance of breaking into the world’s top 16 and being a seed player at the Crucible Theatre for the 2026 World Snooker Championship.

Un-Nooh battles back from four frames down during afternoon play

The opening session of the final was a quintessential game of two halves.

O'Sullivan settled in nicely, depositing the opening frame with a break of 73 before going on to establish a commanding 4-0 mid-session interval lead, a sequence highlighted by an effort of 124.

Un-Nooh could have been forgiven for fearing the worst; he lost 10-1 to O'Sullivan in record time in the opening round of the 2020 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre - however, on resumption, it was a completely different story.

The 40-year-old got on the scoreboard in frame five with a run of 83 before doubling his tally in the next.

Despite his opponent making a 51, Un-Nooh claimed the seventh frame and then fashioned an 82 to draw level at 4-4.

In the final frame of the afternoon's play, O'Sullivan got in first but went in-off. Later, in his second scoring visit of the frame, Un-Nooh crafted a decisive 80 to turn the tables and move 5-4 up.

During those final five frames of the session, O'Sullivan - whose game dipped, and started to show frustration - only scored more than six points in one of them.

Perfection for Thai ace Un-Nooh in biggest match of his life

When the players returned a few hours later, Un-Nooh extended his streak to six, clearing with a 50 to steal frame ten on the final black after an increasingly animated O'Sullivan had been close to taking it after some aggressive shot choices.

But the pendulum would swing again in dramatic fashion. O'Sullivan conjured up century breaks in the next three consecutive frames - 114, 102 and 136 - to not only stop the rot, but put himself back on level terms, and then 7-6 in front in super quick time. The latter was his 12th ton of the week.

In all three of those frames before the final interval, Un-Nooh had chances but faltered, and it was appearing like he could be ready to crack under the pressure of the occasion and the power that his opponent exudes.

However, the intermission - as it can so often do - brought about another huge shift in momentum.

Un-Nooh restored parity with a 77 break and then edged back in front at 8-7 following a 132.

In frame 16, 'F1' constructed his seventh feat of snooker perfection in the professional game as he struck a maximum 147 break - and what a time to do it - in moving to the hill at 9-7 up.

It is a record-extending 23rd 147 this season on the World Snooker Tour, from which Un-Nooh is responsible for three.

Bizarrely, though, it appears that he won't pocket a single penny in bonuses due to O'Sullivan's world record effort of 153 during the quarter-finals.

Maximum break aside, Un-Nooh had to refocus to complete his mission objective of capturing the title - and he didn't even flinch, staying true to his attacking, free-flowing instincts, constructing a 131 - his third total clearance in as many frames - for glory.

In an absolutely devasting purple patch after the final mid-session interval, Un-Nooh racked up runs of 77, 132, 147 and 131 - allowing his stranded opponent O'Sullivan to score just six points, and none in the final three frames.

If you include O'Sullivan's hat-trick of consecutive tons before the interval, there was a century in six of the final seven frames of this truly staggering encounter.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 World Open, visit here.