Snooker: Dark horse Noppon into China Open semi-finals - "The Magician" out of tricks

Thailand's Noppon Saengkham has been the surprise package of the China Open snooker tournament. The Thai has dealt with players such as world number 1 Judd Trump and living legend Ronnie O'Sullivan so far, and the quarter-finals didn't get any easier with his opponent being Shaun Murphy, who reached the world championship final this year.

"The Magician" lost out this year, but he still has his 2005 world title to look back on. He got to witness Noppon's potting prowess from the very first frame after missing the second red on the jaws. Noppon was snookered in relation to the otherwise guilt-edged red, but a beautiful cannon provided the opportunity for a frame-ending break which he took.

The match continued tight, with both players managing two-frame streaks. The sixth frame provided Saengkham with an opportunity to go 4-2 up, but he failed twice at the time of asking, allowing Murphy to steal the frame and equalize the match at 3-3.

Noppon hasn't been flustered easily and China, and yet again he gathered his bearings fast, taking the next frame following a fast break. More Thai character was on show in the next, where the dark horse overturned a 58-25 deficit to go to match frame 58-60 - all this despite even being snookered when down at one point.

The first opportunity to end the match went Murphy's way. However in the second Noppon rallied to make the largest break of the match at 85, allowing him to celebrate yet another David vs Goliath victory and a spot in the semi-finals. Ranked only 45th in the world, these ranking points will do wonders for Thailand's finest.

The other quarter-final of the morning session took place between David Gilbert and China's own Zhou Yuelong. The marathon of a snooker match eventually turned in favour of Zhou to the delight of the Chinese crowd, meaning that the first semi-final pairing is Noppon vs Zhou. Stuart Bingham vs Zhang Anda and Neil Robertson vs Mark Selby are the remaining quarter-finals later today.

The rest of the quarter-finals will be played at 12:30 UK time. You can find all the China Open results and future matches below.













Source: TNT Sports