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Ng On-yee maintained her world No 2 ranking after finishing second in the UK Women’s Championship. Photo: WWS

Snooker star Ng On-yee stuns world champion Nutcharut Wongharuthai, but falls short in UK Women’s Championship final

  • Ng beats world champion for second time this year, but loses in the final against Reanne Evans
  • Ng will now turn her attention to the British Open where she meets Irish star Ken Doherty in the qualification rounds

Hong Kong snooker star Ng On-yee is hunting for her first mixed-gender professional win of the new season, after cruising past reigning world champion Nutcharut ‘Mink’ Wongharuthai at the UK Women’s Championship semi-finals last weekend.

The UK Championship marked the start of the 2022-23 season, where Ng defeated the top Thai contender 4-0 in the last four. before falling to British world No 1 Reanne Evans 3-4 in the final.

The 160-minute marathon against Evans saw the world’s top two players go head to head, with world No 2 and four-time UK champion Ng taking an early 3-2 lead before Evans fought back in the last two frames to secure the trophy.

Ng On-yee (right) beat reigning world champion Nutcharut Wongharuthai 4-0 in the UK Championship semi-final. Photo: WWS

“The final was a very close match,” Wayne Griffiths, Ng’s coach, said. “On-yee was never behind during the match, but gave Reanne a good chance early in the decider and this proved to be the difference.”

Griffiths said had Ng had put on a “world-class performance” and to beat the world champion 4-0 was “exceptional”.

Ng showed her strong performance on the first day of the competition when she made four breaks of 80 or more against various opponents, three of which came in the opening rounds and one in the quarter-finals, when she beat compatriot Ho Yee-ki 3-1 with a high break of 97 in the first frame.

This is not the first time Ng has beaten Mink. In April, Ng got the better of the her younger opponent to win the Winchester Women’s Open snooker tournament with a decisive 4-0 victory.

Overall it was a solid performance from Hong Kong’s women, with Ho losing to Ng in the last eight, having beaten world No 6 Maria Catalano 3-2 in the previous round, while Chu Pui-ying lost 3-0 to world No 4 Rebecca Kenna in the last 16.

Reanne Evans (right) and Ng On-yee, the world’s top two female players, finished first and second at the UK Championship in Leeds. Photo: WWS

“This was a good all-round performance from the Hong Kong ladies, and they will take valuable lessons from this world-class event,” Wayne said.

The 31-year-old Ng said she was delighted with her performance.

“I made some decent breaks in the tournament, congratulations to Reanne for winning her countless ranking titles,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Thanks everyone for your support. British Open qualifiers next.”

Ng returned to the UK last month to begin her second mixed gender World Snooker Tour season, and she was hard at work at the Ding Junhui Snooker Academy in Sheffield to win her second match in the pro tournament.

The Hongkonger scored her first WTS victory in February, beating China’s Wu Yize 4-2 in the qualifying round of the Welsh Open, and will take on Irish star Doherty next Thursday.

Hong Kong No 1 Marco Fu Ka-chun, who qualified for the European Masters by downing David Gilbert 5-1 in the qualifiers last month, will face Cao Yupeng of China in the British Open qualifiers next week, while Andy Lee Chun-wai, who is still looking for his first win of the season, will face British veteran Barry Pinches.

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