James Wattana Explained

James Wattana
Birth Date:	January 17, 1970
Birth Place:	Bangkok, Thailand
Professional:	1989–2008, 2009–2020
High Ranking:	3 (1994/95)
Official Maximums:	3
Ranking Wins:	3

James Wattana (; born January 17, 1970, as วัฒนา ภู่โอบอ้อม Wattana Pu-Ob-Orm, then renamed รัชพล ภู่โอบอ้อม Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm in 2003) is a Thai former professional snooker player.

A professional between 1989 and 2008, and from 2009 to 2020, Wattana reached his highest ranking position – world number 3 – for the 1994–95 season. He has won three ranking tournaments, the 1992 Strachan Open and the Thailand Open in 1994 and 1995, and has finished as the runner-up in a further five ranking events. He twice reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship, in 1993 and 1997. When he was defeated in the semi-finals in 1993 by Jimmy White, it was only Wattana's second appearance in the final televised stages at the Crucible Theatre, his first being the previous year when he lost in the second round to the eventual winner Stephen Hendry.

Having received two year invitational tour cards in 2014, 2016 and 2018, Wattana fell off the main tour at the end of the 2019/2020 season.

Career

Wattana won his first major tournament, the Thailand Masters, in 1986, aged only 16. As an amateur, he won the Asian Snooker Championship twice and the £6,000 first prize for winning the 1988 Kent Challenge in Hong Kong. He turned professional in 1989, after winning the 1988 World Amateur Championship. His career peaked in the mid-1990s, when he twice won the Thailand Open and rose to number three in the world rankings. Prior to Wattana becoming a professional, snooker had been dominated by British (and to a lesser extent Irish, Canadian and Australian) players.

He was the eighth professional player to earn more than £1 million in prize money, and with three maximum breaks he is one of only eighteen players to have scored more than two maximums in competition. He scored his first one in 1991 at the World Masters and the second at the British Open,^[1] which was then, at seven minutes and nine seconds, the fastest ever made.^[2]

With the help of his PR team fronted by Yorkshire business tycoon Ed Clark, Wattana's success caught the imagination of the Thai public, and he became the most admired sportsman in his home country.^[3] He helped raise the profile of the game in the Far East, and has been followed into the game by many players from Thailand, Hong Kong, and China, the most successful being Marco Fu and Ding Junhui. He is a Commander Third Class of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand, only the second sportsman to receive the country's most prestigious civilian honour.

He reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship in 1993 and 1997, losing narrowly in the latter to Stephen Hendry. After a strong 2004–05 season, he returned to the top 32 of the world rankings, despite being the first player since 1992 to experience a whitewash at the World Championship when he lost 0–10 against Ali Carter in the final round of qualifying at the 2005 tournament. By 2007, his continued poor form meant that he dropped off the main tour in 2008. He continued to play, however, and in 2008 he entered the World Amateur Championships in Wels, Austria, where he lost to eventual champion Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the last 16. He won the 2009 Asian Championships in Tangshan, China, after beating Mei Xiwen 7–3 in the final.

His position on the current provisional rankings received a huge boost with a run to the venue stage of the China Open thanks to four straight qualifying victories.

The 2011/12 season proved to be relatively good, managing to qualify in 2 of the 8 ranking events, the Shanghai Masters losing to Ronnie O'Sullivan 1–5 and the German Masters, beating Stephen Hendry 5–1 in the qualifiers, but then losing to Graeme Dott in the first round. At the end of the season he finished ranked 63, just inside the top 64.

In 2014, he lost his place on the professional snooker circuit, as he finished outside the top 64 on the official world rankings list at the end of the 2013/2014 season. However, he was one of three players awarded an invitational tour card for the next season – alongside Hendry and Steve Davis – and has since competed fairly regularly in tournaments as an amateur. In 2015, he lost in the first round of the qualifiers for the World Championship 3–10 to Jimmy White. In 2016, he lost in the first round of the qualifiers for the World Championship 6–10 to Peter Ebdon.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1985/ 86	1986/ 87	1989/ 90	1990/ 91	1991/ 92	1992/ 93	1993/ 94	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97	1997/ 98	1998/ 99	1999/ 00	2000/ 01	2001/ 02	2002/ 03	2003/ 04		2004/ 05	2005/ 06	2006/ 07	2007/ 08	2008/ 09	2009/ 10	2010/ 11	2011/ 12	2012/ 13	2013/ 14	2014/ 15	2015/ 16	2016/ 17	2017/ 18	2018/ 19	2019/ 20	2022/ 23
Ranking^[4] ^[5]	^[6]		^[7]	32	20	7	5	3	5	12	12	15	22	27	32	32	34		33	32	25	33			66	67	63	63	^[8]	123		73		82
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters^[9]	Tournament Not Held																												MR		A	A	A	A
International Championship	Tournament Not Held																										LQ	2R	LQ	LQ	3R	LQ	1R	A
China Championship	Tournament Not Held																														NR	A	LQ	LQ
English Open	Tournament Not Held																														2R	4R	1R	1R
World Open^[10]	A	A	SF	LQ	1R	2R	2R	3R	3R	QF	2R	1R	3R	1R	1R	3R	3R		QF	1R	RR	LQ	A	A	1R	LQ	LQ	2R	Not Held		WR	LQ	LQ	LQ
Northern Ireland Open	Tournament Not Held																														1R	1R	1R	1R
UK Championship	A	A	1R	3R	SF	QF	QF	SF	3R	2R	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	3R		1R	2R	1R	1R	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R
Scottish Open^[11]	A	A	2R	Not Held		2R	F	1R	1R	2R	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	2R	LQ		Tournament Not Held								MR	Not Held			1R	1R	1R	3R
European Masters^[12]	A	A	LQ	2R	1R	1R	QF	2R	1R	SF	NH	1R	Not Held		2R	LQ	1R		2R	1R	LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held								LQ	LQ	LQ	A
German Masters^[13]	Tournament Not Held								2R	1R	2R	NR	Tournament Not Held												LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	A	A	A
World Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held																												NR	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Welsh Open	Tournament Not Held				QF	SF	SF	1R	1R	3R	1R	QF	3R	LQ	1R	LQ	1R		LQ	QF	1R	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	3R	A	1R	1R	3R	2R	2R
Shoot-Out	Not Held			NR	Tournament Not Held																				Non-Ranking Event						A	2R	1R	A
	Tournament Not Held																								DNQ	DNQ	1R	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Gibraltar Open	Tournament Not Held																													MR	1R	A	A	A
Tour Championship	Tournament Not Held																																DNQ	DNQ
World Championship	A	A	LQ	LQ	2R	SF	QF	1R	2R	SF	1R	2R	LQ	1R	1R	1R	1R		LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters	A	A	1R	LQ	QF	F	SF	QF	1R	1R	QF	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
	Tournament Not Held																						SF	QF	3R	NH	2R	2R	2R	2R	2R	RR	QF	RR	2R
Former ranking tournaments
Classic	A	A	LQ	3R	SF	Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open	Tournament Not Held				W	MR	NR	Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic^[14]	Not Held		2R	2R	2R	SF	2R	1R	2R	1R	Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held							Non-Ranking Event					LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters^[15]	Non-Rank.		F	2R	2R	QF	W	W	QF	2R	2R	2R	LQ	LQ	1R	NR	Not Held				NR	Tournament Not Held
British Open	A	A	2R	3R	F	F	F	SF	2R	1R	2R	1R	3R	2R	1R	1R	LQ		LQ	Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters	Non-Ranking Event															LQ	LQ		LQ	NH	NR	Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy	Tournament Not Held																			NR	2R	1R	A	Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic^[16]	Tournament Not Held																						Non-Ranking Event				LQ	LQ	A	Not Held
	Tournament Not Held							Non-Rank.		Tournament Not Held																LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	Not Held
Shanghai Masters	Tournament Not Held																					LQ	A	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Non-Rank.
Paul Hunter Classic^[17]	Tournament Not Held																		Pro-am Event						Minor-Ranking Event						A	A	A	NR
Indian Open	Tournament Not Held																											1R	LQ	NH	1R	LQ	A	NH
China Open^[18]	Tournament Not Held										NR	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held			LQ	2R	1R	LQ	A	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	2R	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Pontins Professional	A	A	SF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
European Grand Masters	Not Held			QF	Tournament Not Held
World Masters	Not Held			SF	Tournament Not Held
London Masters	NH	A	A	QF	Tournament Not Held
European Masters League	Tournament Not Held				F	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters	RR	W	Ranking		2R	Ranking Event										A	Not Held				A	Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Masters^[19]	A	A	NH	W	F	Tournament Not Held																										A	Not Held
Indian Challenge	Tournament Not Held				1R	Tournament Not Held
Belgian Challenge	Tournament Not Held				1R	Tournament Not Held
Pot Black	A	A	A	A	A	F	A	Tournament Not Held												A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Kent Classic	NH	A	A	A	NH	QF	Tournament Not Held
Belgian Masters	Not Held			A	A	W	Not Held		A	Tournament Not Held
Nescafe Extra Challenge	Not Held			F	NH	F	Tournament Not Held
World Matchplay	Not Held		A	A	A	W	Tournament Not Held
Top Rank Classic	Tournament Not Held							RR	Tournament Not Held
King's Cup	Not Held			F	NH	F	W	SF	Tournament Not Held
Scottish Masters	A	A	A	A	A	SF	1R	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters	A	A	A	A	A	QF	QF	QF	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	Ranking Event				NH	A	Tournament Not Held
Superstar International	Tournament Not Held										RR	Tournament Not Held
China International	Tournament Not Held										SF	Ranking Event				Not Held			Ranking Event
Super Challenge	Tournament Not Held											RR	Tournament Not Held
Premier League^[20]	NH	A	A	RR	SF	RR	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	RR	A	A		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Euro-Asia Masters Challenge	Tournament Not Held																W	RR	Not Held			F	Tournament Not Held
World Champions v Asia Stars	Tournament Not Held																		RR	Tournament Not Held
Masters Qualifying Event^[21]	Not Held			F	QF	MR	A	A	A	A	A	A	3R	1R	1R	3R	3R		NH	A	A	A	A	3R	Tournament Not Held
Shoot-Out	Not Held			WD	Tournament Not Held																				A	1R	A	A	A	A	Ranking Event

Performance Table Legend
LQ	lost in the qualifying draw	R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals
SF	lost in the semi–finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	withdrew from the tournament
DQ	disqualified from the tournament

NH / Not Held				event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event				means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event				means an event is/was a pro-am event.

Career finals

Ranking finals: 8 (3 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1989	Asian Open		6–9
Runner-up	2.	1992			7–10
Winner	1.	1992	Strachan Open		9–5
Runner-up	3.	1993	British Open (2)		2–10
Runner-up	4.	1994	International Open		4–9
Winner	2.	1994	Thailand Open		9–7
Runner-up	5.	1994	British Open (3)		4–9
Winner	3.	1995	Thailand Open (2)		9–6

Non-ranking finals: 18 (8 titles)

Legend
The Masters (0–1)
Other (8–9)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1986	Thailand Masters		2–1
Winner	2.	1988	Kent Challenge		3–1^[22] ^[23]
Winner	3.	1990	World Series Challenge		9–3
Runner-up	1.	1990	Benson & Hedges Championship		5–9
Runner-up	2.	1990	King's Cup		4–8
Runner-up	3.	1991	Nescafe Extra Challenge		Round–Robin
Runner-up	4.	1991	European Masters League	Steve Davis
Runner-up	5.	1991	Hong Kong Challenge		1–9
Runner-up	6.	1992	Pot Black	Neal Foulds	176–252 points
Winner	4.	1992	Belgian Masters		10–5
Winner	5.	1992	Super League	Jimmy White	Round–Robin
Winner	6.	1992	World Matchplay		9–4
Runner-up	7.	1992	King's Cup (2)		7–8
Runner-up	8.	1993	Nescafe Extra Challenge (2)		Round–Robin
Runner-up	9.	1993	The Masters		5–9
Winner	7.	1993	King's Cup		8–3
Winner	8.	2003	Euro-Asia Masters Challenge – Event 1		6–4
Runner-up	10.	2007			4–5

Pro-am finals: 3 (2 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1990	Kuedos Invitational		5–3^[24]
Runner-up	1.	2007			3–4
Winner	2.	2022	Southeast Asian Games	Lim Kok Leong	4–2

Amateur finals: 7 (5 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1986	British Under-19 Championship		0–3^[25]
Winner	1.	1986	Asian Snooker Championship	Gary Kwok	8–1
Runner-up	2.	1987	Asian Snooker Championship	Udon Khaimuk	6–8
Winner	2.	1988	Asian Snooker Championship (2)	Kenny Kwok	8–7
Winner	3.	1988	World Amateur Championship		11–8
Winner	4.	2008	Thailand Amateur Championship		5–1
Winner	5.	2009	Asian Snooker Championship (3)		7–3

See also

• World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association

Notes and References

1. Web site: Turner. Chris. Maximum Breaks. https://web.archive.org/web/20130210111304/http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Max.html. 10 February 2013. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. 2 April 2010.
2. Web site: Hodgson. Guy. O'Sullivan aims to realise maximum potential. https://archive.today/20130125033030/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4862133.html. dead. 25 January 2013. The Independent on HighBeam Research. 27 May 2012.
3. News: Hodgson. Guy. Snooker: A storm coming in from the East:... James Wattana might just become one.. 1 Mar 2015. The Independent. 1993-04-18.
4. Web site: Ranking History. Snooker.org. 6 February 2011.
5. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
6. He was an amateur.
7. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking.
8. Players issued an invitational tour card began the season without ranking points.
9. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
10. The event run under different names as Grand Prix (1990/1991–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010), LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004), the World Open (2010/2011) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)
11. The event run under different names as International Open (1986/1987–1996/1997) and Players Championship (2003/2004)
12. The event run under different names as the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
13. The event run under different name as German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
14. The event run under different names as Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)
15. The event run under different names as Asian Open (1989/1990–1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/97)
16. The event run under different name as Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
17. The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
18. The event run under different name as China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
19. The event was also called the Hong Kong Challenge (1990/1991–1991/1992)
20. The event run under different names as Matchroom League (1986/1987–1991/1992) and European League (1992/1993–1996/1997)
21. The event was also called the Benson & Hedges Championship (1990/1991–2002/2003)
22. News: Wattana fends off Chan bid . South China Morning Post . 23 July 1988 . 20.
23. News: Wattana snooks them yet again. 27. The Straits Times. 24 July 1988. 12 October 2022.
24. News: Midlands Masters title for Shilton. 26 December 1990. Sandwell Evening Mail. 27.
25. News: Leicester Mercury. Leicester . Sport in Brief . 15 May 1986 . 46.