Un-Nooh's World Open Triumph Completes Tour Championship Field — And Here's Why He Could Shake Up the Betting
The Pick
With the Tour Championship field now confirmed, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh each-way is worth a speculative play at the prices. The Thai's World Open victory was no fluke — three consecutive total clearances in a decisive closing run against Ronnie O'Sullivan tells you everything you need to know about where his head is at right now. Back him each-way at anything north of 20/1 (21.00) to at least make noise at the Bonus Arena in Hull.
The Story: Un-Nooh Ends World Open in Sensational Fashion
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh has finally, emphatically, delivered on a talent that snooker fans have been waiting years to see fully unleashed. The popular 40-year-old from Thailand claimed his second career ranking title at the World Open on Sunday, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-7 in a final that will be remembered for one extraordinary sequence. Locked at 7-7, Un-Nooh produced three successive total clearances to put the match beyond doubt — a run that included a magnificent 147 maximum break, the sport's most celebrated achievement. It was the kind of performance that transforms a reputation overnight.
The victory earned Un-Nooh a career-best payday of £175,000 and has sent him rocketing up to 22nd in the world rankings. More significantly, it secured his place in the Tour Championship — the elite end-of-season invitational that gathers the season's top performers. For a player whose career has long been defined by the gap between his extraordinary natural ability and his tournament results, this is a watershed moment. At 40, he is not getting younger, but form like this suggests he is absolutely playing the best snooker of his life.
The Analysis: Rankings Drama and What It Means for the Tour Championship
Un-Nooh's triumph had significant ripple effects across both the official two-year rankings and the provisional Race to the Crucible standings. The headline development elsewhere is Ding Junhui's precarious position. China's most decorated player dropped to 16th in the world after his early World Open exit triggered the deduction of points he had accumulated by reaching the 2024 World Open final. He sits in exactly the same position — 16th — in the Race to the Crucible standings, which means he retains his top-16 status for now.
However, there is still a threat. Un-Nooh is mathematically the only player who can push Ding outside the top 16 and into the World Championship qualifiers — but only if he wins the Tour Championship outright. Given the calibre of the field, that remains a long shot, but it is a storyline worth tracking. Ding's presence at the Crucible as a seeded player, rather than a qualifier, could be decided by Un-Nooh's performance in Hull.
At the very top of the rankings, the top eight positions remain unchanged. Judd Trump holds firm at world number one, followed by Kyren Wilson, Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, and Zhao Xintong in the top five. There are no surprises there, and Trump remains the outright favourite for the Tour Championship with virtually every major bookmaker.
One genuinely encouraging subplot from the World Open was the maiden last-16 run of Latvian qualifier Artemijs Zizins. The 27-year-old is now up to 68th in the world rankings, which places him outside the critical top-64 cut-off on the main list — but his one-year ranking position has improved sufficiently to give him a realistic route back to the tour. In a sport that has worked hard to develop European talent beyond the British Isles, Zizins' progress is worth celebrating.
The Survival Battle: Who Needs a Crucible Miracle
For several veterans of the game, the situation is far less comfortable. The provisional end-of-season rankings make grim reading for a cluster of players who face the prospect of losing their professional tour cards. Jordan Brown (63rd), Jamie Jones (64th), Mark Davis (65th), and Robert Milkins (68th) are among those currently on the wrong side of the line. The World Championship qualifiers represent their last real opportunity to accumulate the points needed to stay on tour, and the stakes could not be higher. For players who have spent years as fixtures on the circuit, the prospect of dropping into the amateur ranks is a brutal reality of the modern ranking system.
The Odds: Tour Championship Outright Market
With the field now confirmed, here is how the outright market is shaping up across the major UK bookmakers ahead of the Tour Championship:
| Player | Bet365 | William Hill | Paddy Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Judd Trump | 3/1 | 10/3 | 3/1 |
| Ronnie O'Sullivan | 4/1 | 4/1 | 9/2 |
| Neil Robertson | 6/1 | 11/2 | 6/1 |
| Kyren Wilson | 8/1 | 8/1 | 8/1 |
| Zhao Xintong | 10/1 | 10/1 | 10/1 |
| Thepchaiya Un-Nooh | 22/1 | 20/1 | 25/1 |
Odds correct at time of writing. Always check with your bookmaker for the latest prices.
Un-Nooh at 25/1 with Paddy Power is the standout each-way option. A player in that kind of form — maximum breaks, hat-tricks of clearances, beating Ronnie in a major final — deserves more respect than those odds suggest. He will not be the favourite, but he absolutely has the game to trouble anyone in a format that rewards sustained brilliance.
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