Three and Out: On Yee Ng Completes Remarkable British Open Hat-Trick
A Champion Who Refuses to Let Go
There is a particular kind of confidence that comes from owning a title. Not just winning it once, or even twice, but returning to the same venue, facing the sport's very best, and producing your finest snooker when the stakes are highest. At the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall on Sunday, On Yee Ng demonstrated exactly that. The Hong Kong China star defeated reigning world champion Bai Yulu 4-2 to claim the Landywood British Open for the third consecutive year — a performance that announced, with considerable force, that she remains one of the most formidable players in women's snooker.
It was never going to be straightforward. Bai, who came into the final having already beaten Ng in three separate ranking event finals this season — the UK Championship, the Niche Cues Open and the WSF Women's Championship — made the stronger start, punishing any hesitation with a composed break of 67 to take the opening frame. For a moment, the familiar script seemed to be writing itself again. But Ng, a player who has built her reputation on tactical intelligence as much as shot-making, refused to be drawn into a firefight she couldn't win. She ground out the second frame on the black, then produced the match's finest contribution — an 85 break — to nudge herself 2-1 ahead.
Bai levelled at 2-2 with a break of 45, and the Landywood crowd, growing increasingly aware they were watching something special, leaned forward. What followed was a masterclass in composure under pressure. Ng added a break of 38 to edge back in front, before a beautifully controlled 66 in the deciding sixth frame sealed a 4-2 victory and, crucially, her first ever win against the Chinese world number one on the World Women's Snooker Tour. Sometimes the records that mean the most are the personal ones.
History Written in Walsall
The numbers around Ng's achievement are striking. She becomes only the fifth player in history to win the British Open on three or more occasions — a list that reflects the very best the women's game has produced. The victory also takes her career title tally to 24, closing the gap on Karen Corr, who sits fourth on the all-time list with 26. Two titles. Two more chapters to be written.
There is also the matter of the world rankings to consider. Ng, who is 35 and approaching what might generously be described as the prime of her career rather than its twilight, will climb one place to second in the world following this result — leapfrogging Bai's recent dominance and signalling that the pursuit of the top spot is very much alive. Her path to the final told its own story of consistency and quality: victories over Scotland's Deborah Fladgate and world number six Narucha Phoemphul set up a semi-final date with England's Rebecca Kenna, whom she dismissed 4-0 with a tournament high break of 104. That is five ranking event finals from six appearances this season. In any era of the sport, that would be a remarkable return.
Bai's own route to the final was no less impressive. The 2023 champion navigated past Selina Dean and So Man Yan before producing arguably the weekend's most notable result, defeating the record six-time champion Reanne Evans in the semi-finals. It was a reminder, if one were needed, that even the giants of this sport are not guaranteed safe passage at a British Open.
Side Titles and Stars of the Future
Away from the main event, the weekend offered further cause for celebration. Thailand's Narucha Phoemphul continued her extraordinary run in the Under-21 competition, claiming her fifth junior title of the campaign and seventh overall with wins against Daisy May Oliver and Zoe Killington. The 20-year-old now sits second in the all-time list of junior title winners, behind only the legendary Hannah Jones, whose incredible haul of 20 titles set the benchmark early in her career. Phoemphul, still only at the start of her story, will have plenty of opportunities to close the gap.
England's Tessa Davidson, meanwhile, made history of her own in the Seniors tournament. Her 2-0 victory over Scotland's Natasha Kent delivered a 14th consecutive Seniors title — a run that defies rational explanation — and her 20th overall, moving her to within three of the all-time record. She also claimed the Challenge Cup, defeating Anna Prisjažņuka, to complete a clean sweep at Landywood for the second year running. Davidson's consistency in the Seniors format has become one of the quiet wonders of the women's tour.
Back in the main arena, the day also offered positive signs for the next generation. Selina Dean and debutant Natasha Kent reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time, while Rebecca Kenna's quarter-final win over Thailand's Mink Nutcharut confirmed the Englishwoman's growing stature as a genuine title contender. Landywood had done what the best snooker venues always do — it sorted the contenders from the champions. And once again, On Yee Ng left no one in any doubt about which category she belongs to.
