Ng On Yee wins her second world title after a dramatic finale!

I do have time to write an article about this, because I ran 20 miles today for an upcoming marathon and my legs are as stiff as golf clubs. Somehow that will make sense. Anyway – I did a preview on this championship thanks to a nice request – for more info, take a look: https://clusterofredssnookerblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/16/preview-eden-world-womens-championship/.

And look! Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee has won her second world title in the first all-Asian women’s final by defeating unseeded Indian Vidya Pillai in a dramatic decider on the pink by 6 frames to 5.

Ng came in as an overwhelming favourite after dispatching current holder Reanne Evans 5-4 in the decider, especially after taking the first two frames, but it is Pillai fought back with four frames on the bounce to lead 4-2 and creating the highest break of the match of 50. However, Ng fought back and was leading 5-4 and after some impressive safety from both players, missed the final black to clinch the title, leading Vidya to force the match into the decider. After more and yet more safety play, it led to this bizarre situation:

Ng missed to pink, which meant that Vidya gained 6 points and interestingly a free ball. The reason being, according to professional David Grace @daveg147 said she can’t hit the extreme right of pink without contacting black first. Remarkably, before nominating the black, she miscued and fouled on the pink, leaving the Hong Kong cueist to pot the final pink to the right middle to lift the trophy!

Not entirely sure why I cannot find Vidya in the world rankings list, but after defeating four seeds throughout the tournament in Singapore, it is a fabulous event for her. But it is even better for the popular Ng, who will qualify for the 2018 qualifying stage of the Men’s World Championship since 2016 champion Evans will participate in this seasons. The quality of the women’s may not be there due to lack of breaks and power, but the safety and the tactical game is very good and it has come a long way since a few years ago. This is especially the case even on Twitter you can see many professional players and many bloggers watching the final on Youtube. Long may it continue!