Thai Snooker Star Beats World No. 6 Murphy to Reach China Open Semis
Thai snooker player Noppol Saengkham upset world No. 6 Sean Murphy 6-4 at the China Open in Taiyuan to reach the semi-finals, securing at least 50,000 pounds in prize money after earlier defeating top-ranked Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan
Thai snooker player Noppol Saengkham, nicknamed Moo Paknaam and ranked 45th globally, defeated Sean Murphy, the world's sixth-ranked English snooker player, in a commanding performance to advance to the semi-final of the China Open 2026 at the Riverside Sports Center in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China on August 13. The tournament carries a total prize pool of 1,205,000 pounds, or around 53 million baht. Prior to this victory, Moo displayed impressive form by defeating both Judd Trump, the world's number one player, and Ronnie O'Sullivan to reach the quarter-finals, guaranteeing himself at least 25,000 pounds, or approximately 1,116,000 baht in prize money.
In the opening frame, Moo started brilliantly with a single break of 81 points to lead 81-8. Murphy responded with two consecutive frames scoring 103-5 and 63-47 to take a 2-1 lead. However, Moo recovered with scores of 60-31 and 86-30 to regain the lead 3-2. Although Murphy won frame six with 76-59, Moo bounced back with 82-7 and 60-58 to extend his lead to 5-3. In frame nine, Murphy secured a long break and scored 85-24 to close the gap to 5-4, but Moo clinched victory in frame ten with a long break of 85 points followed by a clearance of 101-0, winning 6-4 to advance to the semi-final and guaranteeing himself 50,000 pounds, or approximately 2.243 million baht in prize money.
