Tai Pichit Explained

Tai Pichit
Birth Date:1963 1, df=y
Birth Place:Thailand
Professional:1994–1997, 1998/1999
High Ranking:124 (1998/1999)
Best Finish:Last 16 (x1)

Chuchart Trairatanapradit (Thai: ชูชาติ ไตรรัตนประดิษฐ์), popularly known as Tai Pichit (Thai: ต่าย พิจิตร; born 10 January 1963) is a Thai former professional snooker player.

Pichit participated at the World Snooker Championship three times, reaching the first round in 1995. Pichit's best overall ranking finish was at the 1994 Thailand Open, where he reached the last 16 stage.

Career

Pichit turned professional in 1991. His first tournament was the 1991 Thailand Open, where he was eliminated 4–5 in the first round by Allison Fisher. Pichit's best run came in 1994, when he participated in the Thailand Open, beating Colin Morton and Stephen Hendry 5–2, before losing to Morgan 4–5 in the second round.

One year later, he participated at his first World Snooker Championship, qualifying for the 1995 edition of the tournament. In so doing, Pichit became the second Thai player, after James Wattana, to play at the Crucible Theatre. Pichit defeated Mark Whatley 5–3, Adrian Rosa 5–1, Mike Dunn 5–2, Warren King 10–0, Stuart Reardon 10–8, Alex Higgins 10–5, Euan Henderson 10–6 and Mike Hallett 10–8 to set up an encounter with Willie Thorne. In the event, Pichit led 2–0 and held Thorne to 4–4 and 6–7, but eventually lost 6–10.

He also participated in the 1996 UK Championship, defeating Jimmy White 9–7 in the first round, and advanced to the second round, where he was defeated by Joe Johnson 6–9.

In 1998–99, Pichit was ranked 124th, the highest ranking in his career, but ended the season at 150th, with his final tournament at the 1999 China International, where he lost 0–5 to John Giles. He lost his professional status immediately thereafter, aged 36.

Personal life

Pichit was a Buddhist monk(bhikkhu) before he became a professional snooker player.[1]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament1990/
91
1991/
92
1993/
94
1994/
95
1995/
96
1996/
97
1998/
99
Ranking[2] [3] [4] [5] 171140
Ranking tournaments
Grand PrixAAALQLQLQLQ
UK ChampionshipAAALQLQ2RLQ
Irish Open[6] AAALQLQLQLQ
Welsh OpenAAALQLQLQLQ
Scottish Open[7] Not HeldA1RLQLQLQ
Thailand Masters[8] AA2RLQWDLQLQ
China InternationalTournament Not HeldLQ
British OpenAAALQLQLQLQ
World ChampionshipAAA1RLQLQLQ
Former ranking tournaments
Asian Classic[9] AAALQWDLQNH
German Masters[10] Tournament Not HeldLQLQNR
Former non-ranking tournaments
Kent CupSFTournament Not Held
Thailand MastersR1RRanking Event
Hong Kong ChallengeA1RTournament Not Held
Indian ChallengeNH1RTournament Not Held
Performance Table Legend
LQlost in the qualifying draw
  1. R
lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QFlost in the quarter-finals
SFlost in the semi-finalsFlost in the finalWwon the tournament
DNQdid not qualify for the tournamentAdid not participate in the tournamentWDwithdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.

Career finals

Pro-am finals: 2

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.
Runner-up1.1991Southeast Asian Games Praput Chaithanasakun1–5[11]
Runner-up2.1993Southeast Asian Games (2) Praput Chaithanasakun0–5[12]

Amateur finals: 6 (2 titles)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScoreRef.
Runner-up1.1989Thailand Amateur Championship Udon Khaimuk5–8[13]
Winner1.1991ACBS Asian Snooker Championship Yasin Merchant8–3[14]
Runner-up2.1992ACBS Asian Snooker Championship Praput Chaithanasakun7–8
Runner-up3.1993ACBS Asian Snooker Championship (2) Praput Chaithanasakun5–8
Winner2.1993IBSF World Snooker Championship Praput Chaithanasakun11–6[15]
Runner-up4.2010World Amateur Championship - Masters Philip Williams4–6[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: How genius Alex Higgins took snooker to all new level and inspired stars of the future - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk.
  2. Web site: Ranking History. Snooker.org. 17 June 2019. 19 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181219070820/http://www.snooker.org/Rnk/history.asp. live.
  3. It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  4. He was an amateur
  5. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  6. The event was called the European Open (1990/1991–1996/1997)
  7. The event was called the International Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
  8. The event was called the Asian Open (1990/1991–1991/1992) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
  9. The event was called the Dubai Classic (1990/1991–1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)
  10. The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1996/1997)
  11. News: Scoreboard. 21. Manila Standard. 5 December 1991. 28 December 2022.
  12. News: Yesterday's results. 29. The Straits Times. 20 June 1993. 2 December 2022.
  13. . July 1989 . Udon takes over in Wattana's absence . Pot Black . Brentwood . Pot Black Publishing . 28–29.
  14. Web site: Asian Snooker Championship: Roll of Honour . Global Snooker . 2 December 2022 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140525195919/http://www.global-snooker.com/global-snooker-international-tournaments-asian-snooker-championship-roll-of-honour.asp . 25 May 2014 .
  15. Web site: Past Champions . . 2 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130120002252/http://www.ibsf.info/past-champions.shtml . 20 January 2013 . dead .
  16. Web site: World Masters Snooker Championship. International Billiards and Snooker Federation. 2 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20101225054137/http://ibsf.info/cgi-bin/ibsf.pl?A=ResultDetail&ID=23. 25 December 2010.