In a fast-paced final of the 2023 Scottish Open in Edinburgh, Gary Wilson defended his title with a 9-5 win against Noppon Saengkham. With his second ranking title win, Wilson will receive £80,000 in prize money. Saengkham still has to wait for a ranking tournament title after his 1st final and receives £35,000.
Saengkhams Final-Premiere; Wilson mit 4 Decider
Noppon Saengkham reached his first ranking final by defeating Rebecca Kenna, Lukas Kleckers, Ali Carter, Matthew Selt, Sanderson Lam and John Higgins. After the semifinal against Higgins, Saengkham couldn’t contain his emotions about reaching his first ranking final. Both Higgins and referee Olivier Marteel warmly congratulated him. Gary Wilson needed 4 deciders on his way to the final. He needed the full distance against Elliot Slessor, Xing Zihao, Joe O’Connor and Zhou Yuelong. However, he clearly won the matches against Rory Thor and Chris Wakelin with 4-1 and 5-0 respectively.
Sometimes it can all get a bit much for you…#ScottishOpen???????????????????????????? | @BetVictor pic.twitter.com/CriFtlo0KR
— WST (@WeAreWST) December 16, 2023
Wilson’s dramatic semi-final decider with Zhou Yuelong
The most memorable and dramatic of Wilson’s 4 decision frames came in his semifinal match against Zhou Yuelong. Wilson already needed three snookers in the decider and Zhou already showed the winning fist. But then Zhou missed a feasible brown shot. Wilson came back to the table with a 9-point deficit, got the necessary foul points and then cleared the table to equalize the points. This was followed by an almost 8-minute “Respotted Black” in which both played a lot of good safeties. After a weak safety from Wilson, Zhou Schwarz fired a shot into the bottom right corner pocket. Wilson didn’t miss the next chance to reach the right middle pocket and the hall was upside down. The 2022 winner also reached the final of the Scottish Open this year.
This match was disgustingly fine,
A beauty that’s quite out of line.
With skill and finesse,
Each player did impress,
A sight that was truly divine!#EurosportSnooker #BadPoetry#HomeNations #ScottishOpen #147sf #ILoveSnooker #SnookerResults
Quite incredible, tbh – key moments: pic.twitter.com/hGVmreJ540— tibine.klara (@tibineklara) December 16, 2023
Dominance from Wilson in the afternoon
Gary Wilson started the final dominantly and mercilessly exploited Noppon Saengkham’s mistakes. It quickly became 3-0 for the defending champions. Until then, Saengkham had only scored 1 (in words: one) point. At the start of the fourth frame he hit a nice, long entry and cut the lead to 1-3 at the mid-session interval.
FINAL LIVE: Wilson 3-1 Saengkham (17)
Four frames to come this afternoon.#ScottishOpen???????????????????????????? | @BetVictor pic.twitter.com/pp4EXcCkiK
— WST (@WeAreWST) December 17, 2023
Same picture after the MSI
Many now hoped that Saengkham would stand up better after the MSI and that an exciting match would develop. But Wilson continued where he started and made it 6-1 with more big breaks (79, 105, 78). At the end of the first session there was at least a somewhat exciting frame. Saengkham played a 30 break, which Wilson countered with a 61. But Wilson missed the frame ball to the left middle pocket. Saengkham took advantage of this and took his second frame in this final with a 43 clearance. Wilson went into the evening session with a clear 6-2 lead.
How crucial will that prove to be? ???? #ScottishOpen pic.twitter.com/CRjtC86riW
— Live Snooker (@Livesnooker) December 17, 2023
Saengkham’s rebellion
The evening session started again with fast frames and high breaks. First, Gary Wilson increased the lead to 7–2 with a break of 81. When everyone was already preparing for a quick end, Noppon Saengkham, out of nowhere, played his first century in this final (132) in the 10th frame. Once he got going, he followed up with a 97 break in the 11th frame. Suddenly it was the Noppon Saengkham from the previous rounds again. The audience was also there now with the score at 4-7. But the fire was quickly extinguished: in the 12th frame, Saengkham only managed a 15-point break. Wilson countered with a 54 and a 56 break to take an 8-4 lead. After the following mid-session interval, the defending champions only needed one frame to win.
FINAL LIVE: 8-4 (17)
As fans head for refreshments, is it over?#ScottishOpen???????????????????????????? | @BetVictor pic.twitter.com/aISfYFPAnd
— WST (@WeAreWST) December 17, 2023
But still fighting snooker, still a quick end
After the mid-session interval, the lively snooker was finally over. Wilson started the 13th frame with a 20 break, Saengkham countered with a 43. Wilson didn’t close the bag again with a 28, but Saengkham also only managed an 8 mini break. Wilson played some snooker, but despite a foul and miss, Saengkham didn’t give up. With a 27 clearance he cut the score to 5-8. The 14th frame marked the end of the final. With breaks of 31 and 53 to make it 9-5, Wilson put the lid on the successful defense of his title.
Title RETAINED!
Final result: Wilson 9-5 Saengkham#ScottishOpen @Gary_Wilson11 pic.twitter.com/q8LRR6tiNk
— WST (@WeAreWST) December 17, 2023
This is how it goes
Even though the Scottish Open was the last ranking tournament in 2023, snooker will still be played in other competitions until the end of the year. From December 18th to 22nd The qualification for the German Masters (January 29th – February 4th, 2024 in Berlin) will take place in Sheffield. Gary Wilson will meet at the Ponds Forge International Sports Center on Wednesday, December 20th. at 8 p.m. in his qualifying match against Scott Donaldson. Noppon Saengkham will play his qualifying match on Friday, December 22nd. at 3:30 p.m. against Ashley Carty. Many top players are spending the holidays in Macau, China this year. Two invitation tournaments will be held there: The Melco Style Macau Masters from December 22nd to 24th. with John Higgins, Barry Hawkins, Luca Brecel, Mark Selby, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Ali Carter and the Wynn Macau Masters from December 26th to 29th. with Mark Williams, Si Jiahui, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Kyren Wilson, Jack Lisowski, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Marco Fu.
2023-12-17 21:26:48
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