Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon: The youngest player in snooker history to make 147 opens with comeback win at Q School in bid to return to main tour

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Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon is aiming to recapture former glories after completing a 4-0 win over Wei Chen on Tuesday, the opening day of the Asia-Oceania Q School in Bangkok. The Thai potter made history in 2010 when he became the youngest professional in history to produce a maximum 147 break at the age of 16 before being banned for three years in a match-fixing probe in 2022.

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Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon began his quest to return to the main professional World Snooker Tour circuit with a 4-0 whitewash win over Wei Chen in his opening match at the Asia-Oceania Q School in Bangkok.

Thanawat, 31, produced breaks of 71 and 57 to book his spot in the last 64 on the opening day of the event and a match against India's Digvijay Kadian on Wednesday.

The Thai potter remains most famous for becoming the youngest player in history to make a 147 maximum break in 2010 against Barry Hawkins at the Rhein-Main Masters when he was only 16.

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To put his achievement into perspective, Stephen Maguire is the second-youngest maximum man in history, recording his 147 at the age of 19 in the 2000 Scottish Open qualifiers.

Thanawat was ranked as high as world No. 67 in 2012, but was suspended by the WPBSA in June 2022 until March this year after admitting his guilt in a match-fixing probe between 2013 and 2015.

The tribunal elected to reduce his initial nine-year suspension to six years, and he has served a minimum of two years and nine months.

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It was not such a productive day for former Welsh Open semi-finalist Tian Pengfei, who lost 4-1 to Liu Wenwei, with Iran's former tour player Soheil Vahedi losing 4-0 to Ma Hailong.

But world No. 74 Xing Zihao made a winning start in his bid to reclaim his spot on the main circuit after completing a 4-1 victory over Peemachol Kongkitchertchoo, boosted by a 100 break in the fourth frame.

Q School 1 is staged between May 13-18, with two tour cards on the line before another two cards will be handed out with Q School 2 running between May 19-24.

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