James Wattana
| Born | January 17, 1970 Bangkok, Thailand |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  Thailand |
| Nickname | The Thai-phoon[1] |
| Professional | 1989–2008 & 2009– |
| Highest ranking | 3 (1994/95) |
| Century breaks | 166 |
| Tournament wins | |
| Ranking | 3 |
James Wattana (born January 17, 1970 as Wattana Pu-Ob-Orm, then renamed to Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm in 2003) is a Thai professional snooker player.
Career
Wattana won his first major tournament, the Camus Thailand Masters, in 1986, aged only 16. He turned professional in 1989, after winning the 1988 World Amateur Championship. His career peaked in the mid-1990s, when he twice won the Thailand Open and rose to number three in the world rankings. Prior to Wattana becoming a professional, snooker had been dominated by British (and to a lesser extent Irish, Canadian and Australian) players.
He was the eighth professional player to earn more than £1 million in prize money, and with three maximums he is one of only four players to have scored more than two maximum breaks in competition. He scored his first one in 1991, which was then the fastest ever made; however, his break was bitter-sweet, as just afterwards he received the news that his father had been shot, and died from his wounds. Still it didn't seem to affect his form, and the early nineties were perhaps the time where he produced his best form. In 2007, he had earned career prize money of £1.75 million.
After a strong 2004/2005 season he returned to the top 32 of the world rankings, despite being the first player since 1992 to lose a World Championship match 10–0 — he did this in the final qualifying round against Allister Carter.
Wattana's success caught the imagination of the Thai public, and he became the most popular sportsman in his home country.[citation needed] He helped raise the profile of the game in the Far East, and has been followed into the game by many players from Thailand, Hong Kong and China, the most successful ones being Marco Fu and Ding Junhui. He is a Commander Third Class of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand, only the second sportsman to get the country's most prestigious civilian honour.
He reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship in 1993 and 1997, in the latter losing narrowly to Stephen Hendry. Wattana has also compiled 140 competitive centuries during his career.[2] Poor form in recent years, however, meant that he dropped off the main tour. He recently took part in the 2008 World Amateur Championships in Wels, Austria where he lost to eventual champion Thepchaiya Un Nooh in last 16. He won the 2009 Asian Championships in Tangshan, China after beating Mei Xiwen 7–3 in the final. It means the 40-year-old will return to the professional circuit in the 09/10 season.
His position on the current provisional rankings received a huge boost with a run to the venue stage of the China Open thanks to four straight qualifying victories.
Tournament wins
Ranking tournaments
- Thailand Open – 1994, 1995
- Strachan Open – 1992
Non-ranking
- Thailand Masters – 1986
- Hong Kong Challenge – 1990
- Humo Masters – 1992
- World Matchplay – 1992
Amateur
- ACBS Asian Championship – 1986, 1988, 2009
- IBSF World Amateur Championship – 1988
See also
References
- ^ "James Wattana". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "Chris Turner's Snooker Archive: Snooker's Top Century Makers". 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-06.