Niche Cues Women’s Snooker Open 2025 | Tournament Preview
The inaugural staging of the Niche Cues Women’s Snooker Open represents the third stop on the 2025/26 World Women’s Snooker Tour as the circuit returns to the Hi-End Snooker Club in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday.
Home to the World Women’s Snooker Championship in both 2019 and 2023, the Hi-End Snooker Club will now host the first-ever world ranking event to be held in Asia, outside of the World Championship, with a strong field of players set to contest the title.
Six of the world’s top ten will be among those present, including the top three in world number one Mink Nutcharut, two-time reigning world champion Bai Yulu and three-time world champion Ng On Yee.
Baipat Siripaporn, who won the last WWS event held at the venue when she became world champion in 2023 will also be among the favourites, as well as India’s Anupama Ramachandran, who lifted both the World Cup and World Under-21 titles at the venue two years ago.
Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul, who recently reached her first ranking event final in Sydney, will also be aiming to go one step further on home soil.
The competition will be played over four days, with all players beginning their tournament at the round robin group stages. The top two from each group will progress to the knockout rounds, alongside the two best third placed players.
Group A
Thailand’s Narucha Phoemphul heads up Group A, fresh from her first world ranking event final at the recent Australian Open in Sydney.
The 19-year-old is up to a career-high ranking of number seven and will be looking for another strong performance at the venue where she made her Tour debut seven years ago.
Also seeded in her group is Yee Ting Cheung of Hong Kong China, who makes her third appearance at Hi-End, having reached the World Championship last 16 in 2019.
Thai juniors Natcharin Sornprasert and Supita Dairueak, 14 and 15 years old respectively, also both return having competed recently at the World Championship in China, with Hong Kong China’s Wing Man Shiu completing the section.
Group B
World champion Bai Yulu will be targeting further silverware on the World Women’s Snooker Tour as she leads a bumper Group B which has six players in total.
Having claimed the UK Championship back in September, the 22-year-old will be aiming to make amends for her previous appearance at Hi-End when she lost out to Baipat Siripaporn in the 2023 World Championship final.
Second seed in the group is Thai junior Phakwalan Kongkaew, who has risen up the rankings having reached the knockout rounds in both of this season’s previous two ranking events in England and Australia.
Intriguingly, the group is also home to reigning world under-21 champion Panchaya Channoi, with the 16-year-old having given Bai a stern test at the last 16 stage of the World Championship before ultimately losing out 4-2.
The final Thai player in the group will be 15-year-old Pornpita Dairueak, who also made her debut in Dongguan back in May, while Hong Kong China’s Chu Pui Ying will also make her first appearance of the season.
Rounding off the group is Lim Jin Er – one of two Malaysian players who will make their debut at the event.
Group C
The highest-ranked player in Group C will be India’s Anupama Ramachandran, with the world number six holding happy memories of the venue following her double success in 2023 on debut.
The Chennai potter will be hoping to revert to winning ways, following a last 16 exit at the recent UK Championship representing a relatively early exit. The 23-year-old has established herself as a consistent performer on the circuit having reached at least the quarter-final stage of eight of her previous 11 Tour appearances.
She will be joined by a brace of players each from Hong Kong China and Thailand, including Ho Yee Ki as the second group seed, who lost 2-0 to Ramachandran at the same stage in Leeds last month.
Also in the group, compatriot Yuk Fan Lau makes her first Tour appearance since the World Championship in May, while Thailand’s Thitapon Nakkaew returns for the first time since 2019.
Finally, Kanokkran Homlaksana, also of Thailand, will make her debut on the WWS Tour.
Group D
World number one Mink Nutcharut will head up Group D as she looks to claim glory on home soil, having previously finished as runner-up and semi-finalist at past events staged at her home venue.
Among those set to stand in her way during the round robin group stages are India’s Natasha Chethan, who will play at the venue for the second time and makes her first Tour appearance since the WSF Women’s Championship in January.
China’s Liu Zi Ling, runner-up in this year’s World Women’s Under-21 Championship, will compete in her first WWS competition outside of her home country, while Thai duo Sirapatsorn Charoenpoom and Prawina Thanphoemphun are both set to make their debut on Tour.
Group E
Three-time world champion Ng On Yee leads the way in Group E as she returns to action having missed out on the Australian Women’s Open following her clash against Judd Trump at the recent Xi’an Grand Prix in China.
The 22-time world ranking event winner will face compatriot Fong Mei Mei among her group stage opposition, with her fellow Hong Konger in action on Tour for the first time since the 2024 UK Championship.
Singapore’s Charlene Chai will also make her second appearance of the season, having returned to the circuit earlier this year at the World Championship in Dongguan and reached her first Seniors final at the UK Championship last month.
Also present are Thailand’s Thanchanok Promtong, with the 12-year-old set to return following her World Championship appearance in May, while Malaysia’s Tan Kim Mei is set for her Tour debut.
Group F
Thailand’s Baipat Siripaporn is the top seed in Group F and returns to a venue at which she has claimed both World Cup and World Championship glory in the past.
The 26-year-old will be aiming to lift her first silverware since her 2023 triumph in a group that also includes Hong Kong China’s So Man Yan, who claimed the Challenge Cup title at Hi-End back in 2019.
Singapore’s Hong lay Toh makes her second Tour appearance in the group, while Thai duo Akira Khlaipeng and Weraporn Sae-tang are both set to make their Tour bow in the group.
Group G
The final group in the draw will see Mongolian number one Narantuya Bayarsaikhan compete in her first tournament since May at the venue where she made a memorable debut in 2023.
A quarter-finalist at that year’s World Championship, the 31-year-old will take on the Tour’s most recent champion as Ploychompoo Laokiatphong aims to make it two in a row following her win at the Australian Open less than three weeks ago.
The Thai player gained an incredible 78 places in the rankings following her success in Sydney and will be targeting a return to the world’s top 10 with another strong performance in her home country.
Also in the group is Iran’s Zeinab Shahi, who also made her WWS debut at the Hi-End Snooker Club at the 2019 World Championship and will contest her first event outside of the UK since.
The draw is completed by Thai pairing Sudtida Yingheng and Pawarisa Praphassorn, both of whom appeared at the recent World Championship in China back in May.
Under-21 / Seniors
A strong 13-player field will contest the Under-21 tournament in Thailand with reigning Under-21 world champion Panchaya Channoi and second ranked Narucha Phoemphul the top two seeds in the draw.
Also seeded are China’s Liu Zi Ling, who lost out to Channoi in this year’s world junior final, as well as Thailand’s Phakwalan Kongkaew, who has recently reached finals in Leeds and Sydney.
India’s Natasha Chethan will also be aiming to claim her second Under-21 title on the circuit, having won the UK title in 2023.
The Seniors Championship meanwhile will see four players take part, as Singapore’s Charlene Chai aims to go one better than at the recent UK Championship by lifting her first over-40s crown.
Among her opposition will be compatriot Hong lay Toh, Hong Kong China’s So Man Yan and Thai debutant Phennapha Sungthong.
The action gets underway on Saturday from 10:00am ICT, with the latest match results and standings available via WPBSA SnookerScores.
