James Wattana

James Wattana (Thai: เจมส์ วัฒนา; born January 17, 1970, as วัฒนา ภู่โอบอ้อม Wattana Pu-Ob-Orm, then renamed รัชพล ภู่โอบอ้อม Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm in 2003) is a Thai former professional snooker player.

James Wattana

Wattana at the 2013 German Masters
Born	January 17, 1970 Bangkok, Thailand
Sport country	Thailand
Nickname	Thai-Phoon[1] Thai Tornado Tong Sit Choi (in Thailand)
Professional	1989–2008, 2009–2020
Highest ranking	3 (1994/95)
Career winnings	£1,727,428
Highest break	147: (3 times)
Century breaks	166
Tournament wins
Ranking	3
Non-ranking	7
Medal record Men's Snooker Asian Games 1998 Bangkok Team 2010 Guangzhou Team Asian Indoor Games 2007 Macau Individual

A professional between 1989 and 2008, and from 2009–2020, Wattana reached his highest ranking position – world number 3 – for the 1994–95 season. He has won three ranking tournaments, the 1992 Strachan Open and the Thailand Open in 1994 and 1995, and has finished as the runner-up in a further five ranking events. He twice reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship, in 1993 and 1997. When he was defeated in the semi-finals in 1993 by Jimmy White, it was only Wattana's second appearance in the final televised stages at the Crucible Theatre, his first being the previous year when he lost in the second round to the eventual winner Stephen Hendry.

Having received two year invitational tour cards in 2016 and 2018, Wattana fell off the main tour at the end of the 2019/2020 season.

Career

Wattana won his first major tournament, the Thailand Masters, in 1986, aged only 16. He turned professional in 1989, after winning the 1988 World Amateur Championship. He won £6,000 first prize for winning the 1989 Kent Challenge in Hong Kong. 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 seven players to have scored more than two maximum breaks in competition. He scored his first one in 1991 at the World Masters and the second at the British Open,[2] which was then, at seven minutes and nine seconds, the fastest ever made.[3]

With the help of his PR team fronted by Yorkshire business tycoon Ed Clark, Wattana's success caught the imagination of the Thai public, and he became the most admired sportsman in his home country.[4] 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 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 receive the country's most prestigious civilian honour.

He reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship in 1993 and 1997, losing narrowly in the latter to Stephen Hendry. After a strong 2004–05 season, he returned to the top 32 of the world rankings, despite being the first player since 1992 to experience a whitewash at the World Championship when he lost 0–10 against Ali Carter in the final round of qualifying at the 2005 tournament. By 2007, his continued poor form meant that he dropped off the main tour in 2008. He continued to play, however, and in 2008 he entered the World Amateur Championships in Wels, Austria, where he lost to eventual champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the last 16. He won the 2009 Asian Championships in Tangshan, China, after beating Mei Xiwen 7–3 in the final.

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.

The 2011/12 season proved to be relatively good, managing to qualify in 2 of the 8 ranking events, the Shanghai Masters losing to Ronnie O'Sullivan 1–5 and the German Masters, beating Stephen Hendry 5–1 in the qualifiers, but then losing to Graeme Dott in the first round. At the end of the season he finished ranked 63, just inside the top 64.

In 2014, he lost his place on the professional snooker circuit, as he finished outside the top 64 on the official world rankings list at the end of the 2013/2014 season. However, he was one of three players awarded an invitational tour card for the next season – alongside Hendry and Steve Davis – and has since competed fairly regularly in tournaments as an amateur. In 2015, he lost in the first round of the qualifiers for the World Championship 3–10 to Jimmy White. In 2016, he lost in the first round of the qualifiers for the World Championship 6–10 to Peter Ebdon.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1985/ 86	1986/ 87	1989/ 90	1990/ 91	1991/ 92	1992/ 93	1993/ 94	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97	1997/ 98	1998/ 99	1999/ 00	2000/ 01	2001/ 02	2002/ 03	2003/ 04	2004/ 05	2005/ 06	2006/ 07	2007/ 08	2008/ 09	2009/ 10	2010/ 11	2011/ 12	2012/ 13	2013/ 14	2014/ 15	2015/ 16	2016/ 17	2017/ 18	2018/ 19	2019/ 20
Ranking[5][nb 1]	[nb 2]	[nb 2]	[nb 3]	32	20	7	5	3	5	12	12	15	22	27	32	32	34	33	32	25	33	[nb 2]	[nb 3]	66	67	63	63	[nb 4]	123	[nb 4]	73	[nb 4]	82
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters[nb 5]	Tournament Not Held																											MR		A	A	A	A
International Championship	Tournament Not Held																									LQ	2R	LQ	LQ	3R	LQ	1R	A
China Championship	Tournament Not Held																													NR	A	LQ	LQ
English Open	Tournament Not Held																													2R	4R	1R	1R
World Open[nb 6]	A	A	SF	LQ	1R	2R	2R	3R	3R	QF	2R	1R	3R	1R	1R	3R	3R	QF	1R	RR	LQ	A	A	1R	LQ	LQ	2R	Not Held		WR	LQ	LQ	LQ
Northern Ireland Open	Tournament Not Held																													1R	1R	1R	1R
UK Championship	A	A	1R	3R	SF	QF	QF	SF	3R	2R	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	3R	1R	2R	1R	1R	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R
Scottish Open[nb 7]	A	A	2R	Not Held		2R	F	1R	1R	2R	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	2R	LQ	Tournament Not Held								MR	Not Held			1R	1R	1R	3R
European Masters[nb 8]	A	A	LQ	2R	1R	1R	QF	2R	1R	SF	NH	1R	Not Held		2R	LQ	1R	2R	1R	LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held								LQ	LQ	LQ	A
German Masters[nb 9]	Tournament Not Held								2R	1R	2R	NR	Tournament Not Held											LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	A	A	A
World Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held																											NR	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Welsh Open	Tournament Not Held				QF	SF	SF	1R	1R	3R	1R	QF	3R	LQ	1R	LQ	1R	LQ	QF	1R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	3R	A	1R	1R	3R	2R	2R
Shoot-Out	Not Held			NR	Tournament Not Held																			Non-Ranking Event						A	2R	1R	A
Players Championship[nb 10]	Tournament Not Held																							DNQ	DNQ	1R	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Gibraltar Open	Tournament Not Held																												MR	1R	A	A	A
Tour Championship	Tournament Not Held																															DNQ	DNQ
World Championship	A	A	LQ	LQ	2R	SF	QF	1R	2R	SF	1R	2R	LQ	1R	1R	1R	1R	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters	A	A	1R	LQ	QF	F	SF	QF	1R	1R	QF	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Variant format tournaments
Six-red World Championship[nb 11]	Tournament Not Held																					SF	QF	3R	NH	2R	2R	2R	2R	2R	RR	QF	RR
Former ranking tournaments
Classic	A	A	LQ	3R	SF	Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open	Tournament Not Held				W	MR	NR	Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic[nb 12]	Not Held		2R	2R	2R	SF	2R	1R	2R	1R	Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held							Non-Ranking Event					LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters[nb 13]	Non-Rank.		F	2R	2R	QF	W	W	QF	2R	2R	2R	LQ	LQ	1R	NR	Not Held			NR	Tournament Not Held
British Open	A	A	2R	3R	F	F	F	SF	2R	1R	2R	1R	3R	2R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters	Non-Ranking Event															LQ	LQ	LQ	NH	NR	Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy	Tournament Not Held																		NR	2R	1R	A	Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic[nb 14]	Tournament Not Held																					Non-Ranking Event				LQ	LQ	A	Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open[nb 15]	Tournament Not Held							Non-Rank.		Tournament Not Held															LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	Not Held
Shanghai Masters	Tournament Not Held																				LQ	A	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Non-Rank.
Paul Hunter Classic[nb 16]	Tournament Not Held																	Pro-am Event						Minor-Ranking Event						A	A	A	NR
Indian Open	Tournament Not Held																										1R	LQ	NH	1R	LQ	A	NH
China Open[nb 17]	Tournament Not Held										NR	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held		LQ	2R	1R	LQ	A	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	2R	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Pontins Professional	A	A	SF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
European Grand Masters	Not Held			QF	Tournament Not Held
World Masters	Not Held			SF	Tournament Not Held
London Masters	NH	A	A	QF	Tournament Not Held
European Masters League	Not Held			F	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters	RR	W	Ranking		2R	Ranking Event										A	Not Held			A	Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Challenge	A	A	NH	W	F	Tournament Not Held]
Indian Challenge	Tournament Not Held				1R	Tournament Not Held
Belgian Challenge	Tournament Not Held				1R	Tournament Not Held
Pot Black	A	A	A	A	A	F	A	Tournament Not Held											A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Kent Classic	A	NH	A	A	NH	QF	Tournament Not Held
Belgian Masters	Not Held			A	A	W	Not Held		A	Tournament Not Held
Nescafe Extra Challenge	Tournament Not Held					F	Tournament Not Held
World Matchplay	Not Held		A	A	A	W	Tournament Not Held
Top Rank Classic	Tournament Not Held							RR	Tournament Not Held
King's Cup	Tournament Not Held				F	F	W	SF	Tournament Not Held
Scottish Masters	A	A	A	A	A	SF	1R	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters	A	A	A	A	A	QF	QF	QF	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	Ranking Event			NH	A	Tournament Not Held
Superstar International	Tournament Not Held										RR	Tournament Not Held
China International	Tournament Not Held										SF	Ranking Event				Not Held		Ranking Event
Super Challenge	Tournament Not Held											RR	Tournament Not Held
Premier League[nb 18]	NH	A	A	RR	SF	RR	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	RR	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Euro-Asia Masters Event 1	Tournament Not Held																W	Tournament Not Held
Euro-Asia Masters Event 2	Tournament Not Held																RR	Tournament Not Held
World Champions v Asia Stars	Tournament Not Held																	RR	Tournament Not Held
Euro-Asia Masters Challenge	Tournament Not Held																				F	Tournament Not Held
Masters Qualifying Event[nb 19]	Not Held			F	QF	MR	A	A	A	A	A	A	3R	1R	1R	3R	3R	NH	A	A	A	A	3R	Tournament Not Held
Shoot-Out	Not Held			WD	Tournament Not Held																			A	1R	A	A	A	A	Ranking Event

Performance Table Legend
LQ	lost in the qualifying draw	#R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals
SF	lost in the semi–finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	withdrew from the tournament
DQ	disqualified from the tournament

NH / Not Held				event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				event is/was a ranking event.
RV / Ranking & Variant Format Event				means an event is/was a ranking & variant format event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event				means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event				means an event is/was a pro-am event.
VF / Variant Format Event				means an event is/was a variant format event.

1. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
2. He was an amateur.
3. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
4. Players issued an invitational tour card began the season without ranking points.
5. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
6. The event run under different names as Grand Prix (1990/1991–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010), LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004), the World Open (2010/2011) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)
7. The event run under different names as International Open (1986/1987–1996/1997) and Players Championship (2003/2004)
8. The event run under different names as the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
9. The event run under different name as German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
10. The event run under different name as Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)
11. The event run under different names as Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)
12. The event run under different names as Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)
13. The event run under different names as Asian Open (1989/1990–1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/97)
14. The event run under different name as Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
15. The event run under different names as Australian Open (1994/1995) and Australian Masters (1995/1996)
16. The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
17. The event run under different name as China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
18. The event run under different names as Matchroom League (1986/1987–1991/1992) and European League (1992/1993–1996/1997)
19. The event was also called the Benson & Hedges Championship (1990/1991–2002/2003)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 8 (3 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1989	Asian Open	Stephen Hendry	6–9
Winner	1.	1992	Strachan Open	John Parrott	9–5
Runner-up	2.	1992	British Open	Jimmy White	7–10
Runner-up	3.	1993	British Open (2)	Steve Davis	2–10
Runner-up	4.	1994	International Open	John Parrott	4–9
Winner	2.	1994	Thailand Open	Steve Davis	9–7
Runner-up	5.	1994	British Open (3)	Ronnie O'Sullivan	4–9
Winner	3.	1995	Thailand Open (2)	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9–6

Non-ranking finals: 16 (7 titles, 9 runner-ups)

Legend The Masters (0–1) Other (7–8) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1. 1986 Thailand Masters Terry Griffiths 2–1 Winner 2. 1989 Kent Challenge [6] [7] Winner 3. 1990 Hong Kong Challenge Jimmy White 9–3 Runner-up 1. 1990 Benson & Hedges Championship Alan McManus 5–9 Runner-up 2. 1991 King's Cup Joe Swail 4–8 Runner-up 3. 1991 European Masters League Steve Davis Round–Robin Runner-up 4. 1991 Hong Kong Challenge Stephen Hendry 1–9 Winner 4. 1992 Belgian Masters John Parrott 10–5 Winner 5. 1992 World Matchplay Steve Davis 9–4 Runner-up 5. 1992 Pot Black Neal Foulds 0–1 Runner-up 6. 1992 King's Cup (2) Nigel Bond 7–8 Runner-up 7. 1993 The Masters Stephen Hendry 5–9 Runner-up 7. 1993 Nescafe Extra Challenge Ronnie O'Sullivan Round–Robin Winner 6. 1993 King's Cup Darren Morgan 8–3 Winner 7. 2003 Euro-Asia Masters Challenge – Event 1 Ken Doherty 6–4 Runner-up 9. 2007 Euro-Asia Masters Challenge John Higgins 4–5 Pro-am finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1. 1990 Kuedos Invitational Troy Shaw 5–3[8] Runner-up 1. 2007 Asian Indoor Games Mohammed Shehab 3–4 Amateur finals: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Winner 1. 1986 Asian Snooker Championship Gary Kwok 8–1 Runner-up 2. 1987 Asian Snooker Championship Udon Khaimuk 6–8 Winner 2. 1988 Asian Snooker Championship (2) Kenny Kwok 8–7 Winner 3. 1988 World Amateur Championship Barry Pinches 11–8 Winner 4. 2008 Thailand Amateur Championship Issara Kachaiwong 5–1 Winner 5. 2009 Asian Snooker Championship (3) Mei Xiwen 7–3 See also World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association References "James Wattana". snooker.org. Retrieved 7 August 2015. Turner, Chris. "Maximum Breaks". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2010. Hodgson, Guy. "O'Sullivan aims to realise maximum potential". The Independent on HighBeam Research. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2012. (subscription required) Hodgson, Guy (1993-04-18). "Snooker: A storm coming in from the East:... James Wattana might just become one". The Independent. Retrieved 1 Mar 2015. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20130920200122/http://cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Players/Wattana.html https://wpbsa.com/player/james-wattana/ "Midlands Masters title for Shilton". Sandwell Evening Mail. 26 December 1990. p. 27. External links James Wattana at worldsnooker.com Player Profile on billiardindex.com