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Player Profile: James Wattana
| Category: |
Professional |
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| First Name: |
James |
| Last Name: |
Wattana |
| Town / Country: |
Bangkok, Thailand |
| DoB: |
17 January 1970 |
| Club: |
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| High Break: |
147 (Three times) |
| Ranking: |
3rd (1994/95) |
| Turned Pro: |
1989 |
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| Biography: |
James Wattana or Wattana Pu-Orb-Orm to give him his proper name,
has been the leader of the invasion of snooker from the Far
East. He first qualified for the world amateur championship in
1985 but did not get beyond the group stages. In 1986 he won the
Asian amateur championship but again failed to get beyond the
group stage of the world championship. He also came over to the
UK and was runner up in the British Under-19 event to Barry
Pinches. In the autumn of 1986, still aged only 16, he beat
Dennis Taylor, Steve Davis and Terry Griffiths to win the Camus
Thailand Masters. He was runner up in the 1987 Asian
championship and went all the way to the quarter-finals of the
world championships, losing out to the eventual winner, Darren
Morgan. Having regained the Asian title in 1988 he took part in
the professional ticket qualifying events in the UK, winning the
first and losing in the final of the second. He picked up a
£6000 cheque winning the Kent Challenge in Hong Kong and at last
won the world amateur championship in Sydney beating Barry
pinches 11-8 in the final. This guaranteed him professional
status for the 1989/90 season.
Great things were expected of the young Thai and he did not
disappoint. He reached the final of only his second ranking
event. Appropriately enough this was the Asian Open in front of
his home fans in Bangkok. Hendry beat him 9-6. He reached the
semi-final of the next event but one, the Grand Prix, and
received an invitation to the Benson & Hedges Masters where he
reached the quarter-finals and ended his first season just
outside the top 32. In 1990/1 he started the season by winning
the Hong Kong Masters but in ranking events the last 16 was as
far as he got. He did record his first maximum 147. This was on
the way to the semi-finals of the huge Mita World Masters event.
Mainly due to his previous season's form he was up to 20th in
the world rankings.
Interest in his home country was immense and the pressure on him
to do well, enormous. Millions watched him on television and
even the King of Thailand sent him best wishes. Despite this
pressure, he reached the semi-final of the 1991 UK championship
and the next event, the Mercantile Credit Classic. He followed
this with the quarter-final of the Welsh and the runner - up in
the British Open where he knocked in his second 147 of the
season. All he now needed was a ranking title and it came in the
very next event, the Strachan Open where he beat John Parrott
9-5 in the final. He ended that season with his first visit to
the Crucible where he reached the last 16 and his ranking was up
to 7th. In 1992/3, on the ranking circuit, James lost in the
final of both the British & Welsh Opens and reached the semis of
four other tournaments including the Embassy. He was also
runner-up in the B & H Masters and took both the Humo Masters
and World Matchplay titles. After the latter he arrived home to
a hero's welcome. He was now up to fifth in the rankings.
In 1993/4 he gained his second ranking title, the Thailand Open,
and was runner-up in the Sky International and British Open.
Solid performances in all the other tour events took him up to
number three in the world. Although he retained his Thailand
Open title the following season and reached two other
semi-finals, his other results were mixed and his ranking fell a
couple of places. His form continued to be indifferent the next
season and he arrived at the 1996 world championships needing to
win his opening match to stay in the top 16. He just managed to
do so but continued to lose too many opening matches.
1996/7 saw him only get past the last 16 on three occasions but
he did hang on to his 12th ranking position thanks to reaching
his second world semi-final at the Crucible. His best showing
the next season was a semi-final in the China International
where he also achieved his third maximum. Otherwise it was a
story of early exits and he struggled to stay in the top 16
ending the season 15th. Since then his form has not been helped
by problems with his eyesight and he has only managed two
quarter-finals in the last four seasons. He dropped out of the
top 16 at the end of the 1998/9 season and continued to fall
just managing to hang on to 32nd place at the end of the 2000/01
season, a position which he just retained at the end of the
next.
It was always going to be a struggle to hang on to his top 32
place yet again and with just three wins in the entire 2002/03
season he dropped to 34th, his lowest ever position.
James is one of his country's greatest heroes. As well as being
voted their Sportsman of the Year on three occasions, he was
also honoured with the Order of the Crown of Thailand by his
king, only the second sportsman to receive that award. He became
the eighth player to achieve £1 million in prize money and that
has risen to over £1.6 million. He has done so much to raise the
profile of snooker, not only in Thailand but also throughout the
Far East, that it is to be hoped that he will regain some of the
form, which made him one of the most exiting and feared players
in the world but time is not on his side.
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Achievements:
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World Professional Championship semi-finalist - 1993, 1997
Thailand Open champion - 1994, 1995
Strachan Open champion - 1992
World Matchplay champion - 1992
Thailand Masters champion - 1986
Humo Masters champion - 1992
Hong Kong Masters Champion - 1990
Asian Open runner-up - 1989
British Open runner-up - 1992, 1993, 1994
Regal Welsh Open runner-up - 1993
Sky Sports International runner-up - 1994
Benson & Hedger Masters runner-up - 1993
World Amateur champion - 1988
Asian Amateur champion - 1986, 1988
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Chris Turner
June 2003
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