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Billiard Sports Association of Thailand
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| Thailand Open: Liang Wenbo To Face Ratchapol |
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Though there have some awesome performances, the talk of the town has been Thursday's CAT Telecom-Saraburi Thailand Open quarter-final clash between Thai Star Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm and young Chinese Liang Wenbo.
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Though there have some awesome performances, the talk of the town has been Thursday's CAT Telecom-Saraburi Thailand Open quarter-final clash between Thai Star Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm and young Chinese sensation Liang Wenbo.
The 20-year-old Liang Wenbo was nothing less than a maestro when he recovered from 3-1 down on Tuesday evening to beat Chatchawal Rutphae 4-3.
Lucky for Ratchapol that he wasn't at the venue to see the gutsy show put on by the Chinese cueists or he would have missed some sleep contemplating a game plan to tame his young rival.
Given the experience and a higher world ranking, Ratchapol (No. 33) should enter the quarter-final on Thursday afternoon as a favourite, but Liang Wenbo, the 2005 world under-21 champion, cannot be taken for granted.
While the upshot of the quarter-final remains anybody's guess, the local snooker fans can expect some top-class action during the best-of-seven frame encounter.
Earlier on Wednesday, Thailand No. 1 Issara Kachaiwong of Chanthaburi impressed the local crowd with his undoubted potting skills as he romped home 4-2 against two-time former Asian champion Karnchai Wongjan.
Issara faces hometown hero Atthasit Mahitthi, who on Wednesday defeated Pramual Jantad 4-2, in the quarter-final.
Atthasit has a large army of supporters in Saraburi and he will be out seek a revenge for his 4-0 hammering at the hands of Issara at the same stage of the second ranking event of the season in Suphan Buri late last month.
Praprut Chaithanasakul, a veteran of many years and former winner of two Asian titles, is up against Passakorn Suwannawat in a battle of ages on Thursday morning.
Passakorn, a 20-year-old from Nakhon Pathom, has played brilliantly in the tournament, beating Thailand No. 6 Wanchana Poomjaeng in the last 32 round and then upsetting No. 9-ranked Phaithoon Phonbun 4-2 on Tuesday night.
Later in the day, world No. 22 Michael Holt (pictured above) of England cut Suttipong Chansri to pieces to record a 4-0 win in just 55 minutes and storm into the quarter-finals.
Frame scores:
Tuesday night's last 16 round: Liang Wenbo (China) beat Chatchawal Rutphae 4-3 (52-73(58), 9-66, 75-33, 25-82(60), 70-16, 71(71)-62, 71-37); Passakorn Suwannawat beat Phaithoon Phonbun 4-2 (70-25, 70-22, 58-56, 46-66, 5-57, 75-19)
Wednesday's last 16 round: Issara Kachaiwong beat Karnchai Wongjan 4-2 (59-13, 94(68)-8, 54-64, 67-58, 64-23, 112(87)-9); Atthasit Mahitthi beat Pramual Jantad 4-2 (57-74, 55-12, 59-51, 8-67, 69-0, 69-41), Michael Holt (England) beat Suttipong Chansri 4-0 (62-13, 85-8, 66-41, 94(60)-8)
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