THEPCHAIYA Un-Nooh continued to make the most of his toppling of defending champion Ding Junhui at the Indian Open by reaching a first major semi-final on Friday.
The world No61 from Thailand beat Mark Davis 4-2 in Mumbai – and will now face this season’s International Championship winner Ricky Walden for a place in the final.
World No8 Walden saw off Joe Perry 4-2 as he continues his bid for a fourth ranking title, with the other three also having come in Asia, or more specifically China.
But it is all new territory for the 29-year-old Un-Nooh who made it a biggest career payday of £13,500 by making it through to the last four.
Un-Nooh’s previous best performance was a last-16 showing at the World Open last year, where he lost 5-2 to Graeme Dott.
With the number of top players not entering together with withdrawals and others blighted by visa issues with early exits for the likes of Judd Trump and John Higgins thrown in there was always the potential for at least one surprise semi-finalist at the Grand Hyatt hotel.
Michael White got to the last four without facing a top-32 opponent but at least Un-Nooh had the scalp of a hopelessly out of form Ding to show for his appearance in the semi-finals.
Un-Nooh, who was runner-up to Joe Perry at an Asian Tour event in January, said: "I'm very happy. Tonight's match was really tough because Mark is a very strong safety player. I just had to fight.
“This has been a very good experience for me. I'm not thinking about the money, I'm only thinking about my ranking because I need to get into the top 48.
“I am on my own here because the other Thai players have gone and I have no family here, but I am getting a lot of messages of support from friends.”
Photograph courtesy of World Snooker