Onyee Wins Sydney Thriller at Mounties
Hong Kong China’s Onyee Ng has defeated Mink Nutcharut 4-3 following an absorbing final to win the Australian Women’s Open for a record third time at Mounties in Sydney, Australia.
Previously a winner of the event in 2018 and 2023, Ng was in impressive form throughout this year’s event and produced her best snooker when it mattered to earn consecutive deciding frame victories on the final day to claim her 25th ranking event title.
The victory sees her move to within one of Karen Corr on the all-time standings and with her 16th century break of 103, into third position on the all-time leaderboard behind only Reanne Evans and Bai Yulu.
Having progressed from the group stages without the loss of a frame, Ng earned victories against Agnes Kimura and Jessica Woods to reach the last four. She then recovered from 1-3 down against Evans – with a stunning clearance of 103 in the deciding frame – to reach her fifth Sydney final.
There she would await fellow two-time Australian Open champion Mink Nutcharut, who overcame debutant Jazmin Brown, Narucha Phoemphul and Anupama Ramachandran – who made her highest WWS break to date of 98 during the previous round – to reach her first world ranking event final since February.
It was Ng who would make the early running as she moved halfway to victory with breaks of 58, 54 and 40, before a further contribution of 50 in the third frame looked set to see her claim a 3-0 lead.
A missed red, however, would open the door for Thailand’s Mink who produced a steely clearance of 41 to establish a foothold in the match. She followed with a break of 45 in the next frame to draw level, before she again snatched the fifth frame on the colours to move to within a frame of her first ranking title since January 2025.
But there was to be a final twist, as Ng produced a match high break of 81 to force her second deciding frame of the day, which she would largely dominate courtesy of a well-crafted break of 57.
Speaking after the trophy presentations, Ng revealed that as she trailed Evans 1-3 in the quarter-finals, she took inspiration from her Hong Kong China teammate Ka Wai Cheung, who earlier in the day had similarly recovered from the same deficit to defeat Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast.
“I am happy to be back in Australia,” explained Ng. “I missed playing at the event in 2025 as I was drawn to play Judd Trump at the Xian Grand Prix on the same dates and was unable to play the event.”
“Both the semi-final and final today were tight and it will only get tighter as the bar keeps raising.
“Kudos to my fellow teammate Ka Wai Cheung for his comeback against Ronnie O’Sullivan from 1-3 down. In fact, there was really a flashback for me when I was 1-3 down against Reanne today!”
The highest break of the week was a run of 114 compiled by Evans to establish her 3-1 lead against Ng in the semi-final.
Whitten, Phoemphul Claim Titles
There was a first WWS title for Theresa Whitten as the Australian player defeated Agnes Kimura 3-0 to lift the Seniors title on Monday evening.
A semi-finalist a year ago, Whitten defeated Monica Brettle, last year’s champion Carlie Tait and finally Kimura to become the 30th individual winner of a Seniors title on the Tour.
In the Under-21 tournament there was a repeat victory for top ranked Narucha Phoemphul, who defeated New Zealander Jazmin Brown 3-0 to claim her ninth junior title.
The Challenge Cup, for players who did not qualify for the final stages, was won by Dianne Spring, following a 2-1 success against Krystal Aw decided on the final black.
Following a hugely successful four days of snooker which saw the tournament achieve its highest-ever entry to date, WWS would like to thank the Australian Billiards and Snooker Association for its smooth running of the event, as well as Jason Hastings and The Snooker Shop for their continued support.
The WWS Tour continues this Saturday with the staging of the Niche Cues Women’s Snooker Open, from 24-27 October in Malaysia.
