Noppon Saengkham 4-3 Stuart Carrington - An unbelievable turnaround there for Noppon. He looked throughly down and out at 3-0 down, and Carrington had no reason to think he could clinch victory quickly and complete an early night. The maximum attempt in the fifth was the game changer for me. It left Carrington cold in his seat and really boosted Noppon's confidence. In the end a clearance of 90 came from Noppon's aforementioned excellent match winning chance and he must be a very relieved man. Carrington though might not get his head around that for a while.
Noppon misses on 14 and while he leaves nothing on at the time Carrington soon plays an excellent red from distance to get in. However he makes 23 only before Noppon is back at the table with an opening. There are a couple of open reds but he'll soon need to open the bunch up. He chooses to do it from another red and plays it to perfection. Not overpowering them just delicately nudging through them. A really good match winning opportunity now.
Frame 7 - what had been an easy evening for Carrington has become a nightmare. The decider starts in disastrous fashion as he takes on a long pot and misses, leaving Noppon in at the business end of the table with the first chance in this decider.
Frame Noppon - Well it was a chance that Noppon just could not fail with as long as he kept his concentration and did not take it for granted. He had certainly delivered and Carrington will really be wondering what has happened because he has not had much of a chance since going 3-0 ahead. Noppon though is certainly the favourite in this upcoming decider after another good break of 102. 3-3
Frame 6 - Having completely written off his comeback chances earlier that looks an awful call now. Carrington leaves Noppon right in here with the reds spread like a practice session and if he can mind his work he won't ever have a better chance to win a frame this season.
Frame Noppon - A quick kill in frame five for Noppon as he takes the frame out in one visit. The drama in the frame came from his attempted 147 break. He was cruising until the 13th red when he lost position and had to cut one in the middle coming around the table for the black. A great shot though that was he left the black awkward and missed it. A run of 97 nonetheless means he's definitely in with a fighting chance now and must be growing in confidence. 3-2 now to Carrington.
Frame 5 - Noppon is in first again in the fifth and this time he looks like he's growing in confidence a little and with a few open reds to go at this is another good chance to put some pressure onto Carrington
Frame Noppon - Finally Noppon takes one of his chances in full with a break of 62 to get a frame on the board. It was certainly the easiest run he has had in the match so not quite justification for talk of a possible revival but he's hanging in there.
Noppon is back in again now with an opportunity that he would usually eat up for breakfast. He certainly needs to be taking these chances or he can say goodbye to his hopes in Cardiff this year
Frame 4 - Well the only way Noppon can get back into the match here is to try and get in first and take his opportunities. He's done the first part here in the fourth frame but the second part has been much more difficult for him tonight. Already in this break of 24 he's needed a good recovery pot on the green so he will be hoping to tighten his positional play up. He soon loses position totally and plays safe on 26.
Frame Carrington - With the chances that have come and gone tonight for Noppon it's get difficult to see any possible way he can get back into this. Carrington has not even been at his best but he's cruising ahead. The miss playing a red onto the red over the corner costs the Thai as an additional 42 makes it 3-0 to Carrington
Carrington wobbles a red and leaves it over the corner allowing Noppon back in but he has a little bit of a nightmare trying to play a red onto the one over the corner and Carrington is off the hook again.
Carrington was on just 14 when he fired into the pack from the blue, only to go in off in the corner. Noppon misses a red from range though and leaves the red for Carrington to pick back up where he left off.
Frame 3 - The opening red from Carrington in frame three is the best shot I have seen today. Digging down on the cue ball he fires in an excellent red from long range and lands perfectly on the blue. Certainly worthy of the first chance and he deserves to make plenty from a shot like that.
Frame Carrington - That miss from Noppon has proved to be very costly. No problem at any point in the clearance for Carrington and he's definitely taken control of this match. Noppon is going to need to find his form from 12 months ago to get back into this. With a 65 clearance it's 2-0 Carrington.
Noppon gets the reds nicely open but leaves one from mid range on 34 and jaws it to let Carrington off the hook. A pretty good chance now as he looks to double his advantage.
Frame 2 - First chance for Carrington this time in the second frame but he only makes 20 before losing black ball position and misses a thin cut to allow Noppon to the table. He'll need to get into the reds early here though if he's going to make anything of note.
Frame Carrington - The last red is decisive as Carrington misses the pink in the process of bringing it out, only for Noppon to miss the red into the middle pocket. Carrington gets it and does enough to take the opening frame.
The frame has continued to be pretty slow going but Carrington now has a great opportunity after rolling a nice red in from distance, finishing on the black. One red on the side cushion could be problematic as he looks to win the frame at this visit.
Very much caught me by surprise that Noppon misses a red near the bottom cushion on just 23. Whatever the reason, it has left Carrington in but he loses ideal position and misses a red of his own on 14. A scruffy start but Noppon is back at the table now having been let off big time.
Frame 1 - Noppon has the first chance here in the opener and the way these two score whoever gets in first the most tonight could be the winner. This is a good early opening on this occasion for sure.
My live blog of the evening will be the match between Noppon Saengkham and Stuart Carrington.
Both of these guys have been semi-finalists this season. Carrington at the Riga Masters, while Noppon did so at the World Open and was also in the last four of this event last year. Carrington meanwhile made the last eight here two years ago so this really is a great match up.
Thanks to their good starts to the season both players competed in last week's World Grand Prix, with Carrington falling just short in round one against eventual champion Judd Trump. Noppon meanwhile picked up a really good win against John Higgins before losing in the last 16 to Mark Selby.
Expecting some more big scoring tonight as these two guys make breaks for fun at their best so it should be a great match up.
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