Snooker hails our 'clown prince'
Since James Wattana's time, Thailand has never had a snooker player who could garner the praise of English fans. But now there's a new hero - rising star Dechawat Poomjaeng, who they call Jack Saraburi or simply "The Poom".
Ranked 70th in the world, he beat 2012 World Snooker Championship semi-finalist Stephen Maguire on Tuesday, and in doing so put on a show that had British fans hailing “a breath of fresh air”.
The Poom had some trouble finding his way to the baize, taking a wrong turn not once but twice before discovering the player’s entrance, then striding up to the wrong table. British reporters thought he seemed more like an excited amateur than a seasoned professional, but were riveted by his facial expressions while playing, not to mention his applauding his own safety shot.
The spectators loved it too, but the BBC joined Maguire in wondering if Poom wasn’t being tactically goofy to try and throw his fifth-ranked opponent off his game. Maguire called it the most bizarre match he’d ever played.
The Daily Mail dubbed Poom “the clown prince from Bangkok”. His “crowning act came in the penultimate frame when, waving furiously at the cue ball as it drifted towards a pocket, he stepped back and knocked a bottle of water all over his chair and table, requiring the referee to wipe up the mess amid guffaws of laughter”.
Unfortunately Poom’s follow-up match against Michael White on Thursday didn’t produce a victory, but as of press time yesterday he was still in the running in the round robin.
“Forget Michael White – the Poom is currently the favourite in this year’s championship,” Hizento tweets. “He’s like a club player who lives or dies with every shot. Terrible to play against, though.”
FelipeinSpain calls his game “one of the most enjoyable performance I’ve seen for years.”
“Snooker with a bit of passion,” adds a fan in Algeria. “Look forward to the Thai lad’s next match. Let’s hope he can go all the way.”
