At 03:00 a.m. Beijing time on December 18, the 2023/2024 Snooker Scottish Open will determine the final champion. England's Gary Wilson defended his title with a 9-5 victory over Thailand's Noppong Sangkam to win his second career ranking title.
Gary Wilson successfully defended his title at the Scottish Open
Gary Wilson's snooker career is full of legends, he was born in 1985 and rose to fame at a young age, winning the British U18 title twice. But after turning professional in 2004, it was overshadowed by the 80 Tigers. During this period, he was demoted, drove a taxi, and worked as a bar waiter. 13 years back to the professional league. In the 2015 China Open, he reached the final of the ranking tournament for the first time, losing 2-10 to Mark Selby and failed to win the championship. In 2021, Gary Wilson reached the final of the British Open, losing 4-6 to Mark Williams. It wasn't until last year's 2022 Scottish Open that Gary Wilson's third ranking tournament final finally exploded, defeating O'Connor 9-2 to win his first career ranking tournament title.
Gary Wilson and Noppon Sancam pose for a group photo before the game
Coming to the Scottish Open this season, Gary Wilson made it all the way to the final. Delayed qualifying 4-3 win over Slesser. The round of 32 narrowly defeated Xing Zihao 4-3. The round of 16 narrowly beat O'Connor 4-3. The top 8 battle was 4-1 Tu Zhenlong. In the top 4 battle, he chased two match points in a row after falling behind 3-5, and defeated Zhou Yuelong in the deciding game when the opponent overscored to advance to the final of his fourth ranking tournament, and also advanced to the final of the Scottish Open for two consecutive years.
Gary Wilson in the game
In the first stage of the final, Gary Wilson faced the Thai star Noppon Sankham, who broke into the final of the ranking tournament for the first time, and played quite confidently, and his hand can only be described as hot. Gary Wilson hit a 1-shot break and 5 shots of 50+ to lead Noppon Sancam 6-1. In the 8th game, Sancam took the lead and scored 30 points before breaking, Wilson took over and played 50+ mistakes, Sancam made a reversal with a second start, and Wilson finished the first stage 6-2 Sancam.
Noppon Sancam in the game
In the second stage, Gary Wilson continued to perform well, scoring 81 points in a single stroke, but then Noppon Sankam returned 132 points and 97 points in a single stroke in succession, chasing two games in a row, and the big score was 7-4 for Gary Wilson. Leading Noppon Sancam.
In the 12th game, Sancam was penalized for a defensive error, Wilson seemed a little anxious to fight the ball and did not score a chance to leave, Sancam played on the accurate long platform and only scored 7 points to interrupt. Wilson took advantage of Sancam's long platform and scored 12 points with a single shot. After that, the two sides made their own mistakes, and finally relied on 54 points in a single stroke and snooker defense to close the 12th game. The big score was 8-4 to get the match point. Going into halftime.
After the break, in the 13th game, Wilson took the lead, and there was an offensive error in a single stroke of 20 points, and Sancam easily got into a single shot and 43 interruptions. Wilson scored 28 points in a single stroke to win, and forced a forced attack to miss. After 8 points in a single shot, Sancam led Wilson 51-48, and the two sides fell into a defensive battle. In the end, Sancam made a high-quality snooker, Wilson missed the ball twice, and Sancam used the free kick to attack 78-55 to save a match point. The big score is 8-5.
In the 14th game, Gary Wilson took the lead in a precise long-platform attack, and the effect of hitting the red ball pile with a single stroke of 31 points was not ideal, and he turned to defense. Sancam made a 13-point mistake in a single stroke. Wilson once again started to win 53 in a single stroke. Win the game with an aggregate score of 9-5.
Congratulations to Gary Wilson on successfully defending his title! Starting at 18:00 tonight, the 2024 Snooker German Masters will usher in the qualifying round, that is, 128 into 64 competition, and the 22 members of the Chinese Army are led by Ding Junhui to attack the main competition. The show is not to be missed. Like and follow the editor, and continue to bring you the latest reports of the German Masters!