Dechawat Poomjaeng causes Snooker Shoot Out mayhem with dancing, chanting and incredible flukes

ByNigel Chiu

Updated 26/01/2023 at 17:54 GMT

Dechawat Poomjaeng is a big character on the snooker tour and he more than showed it in his remarkable first-round win over Si Jiahui in the Shoot Out. Even for people who rarely watch snooker, the 10 minutes of Poomjaeng on Thursday brought many laughs including a near fall over the barrier mid-match. Oh, and some dancing and incredible flukes too. Unbelievable.

The Snooker Shoot Out can be chaotic at the best of times but Dechawat Poomjaeng caused mayhem in his thrilling victory over Si Jiahui.

Even before he made it to the table, the crowd were already chanting “Dechawat” repeatedly at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.

To decide who breaks in the Shoot Out, the players go head-to-head in a “lag” which is when they hit the cue ball down and up the table to see who gets closest to the cushion.

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Poomjaeng decided to hit the cue ball up and down twice in a shot that may have been illegal, although who knows?

With the crowd in high spirits, Si broke off and left a red on which Poomjaeng slotted into the bottom right corner.

He then potted a simple green and started dancing which the crowd enjoyed. More chanting and dancing followed with Eurosport commentators Dave Hendon and Neal Foulds trying their best not to laugh at what they were witnessing.

‘Not too sure that’s even allowed’ - Poomjaeng set his stall out to entertain with a wild lag

At 12-0 to Poomjaeng, the match turned into a safety battle although the atmosphere was still fantastic.

With three minutes remaining, Poomjaeng trailed Si 14-12 but had a fluked a red and potted a brown to go 17-14 ahead.

Si missed a red that wobbled in the jaws, which Poomjaeng capitalised on. He knocked the red in, potted the green and then had an outrageous fluke as he waved his hands at the red to will it in.

“He didn’t exactly apologise for the fluke,” said Foulds. “He celebrated like he scored the winning goal in a World Cup final.

“There’s all kinds of stuff going on and it’s not over yet. What is going to happen next?”

‘He’s nearly in the crowd’ - Poomjaeng produces wild celebration after outrageous fluke

As Foulds was speaking, Poomjaeng missed a pink but got the cue ball behind the yellow to snooker his opponent.

In celebration, Poomjaeng nearly jumped over the barrier and into the crowd, before pulling himself out. Si fouled which handed the match to the Thai player.

“It’s over now," Foulds said. "This is the victory lap. He’s got ball in hand. All he has to do is not fall over or sprain his ankle!”

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Poomjaeng went on to win 33-14 by blasting a red which missed with his final shot in the most unbelievable scenes.

“What on earth is he doing Dave?” laughed Foulds. “Extraordinary business, explain that one!”

Hendon replied: “I don’t think I can speak! I literally can’t speak.”

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