How youngest player in snooker history to hit 147 sealed golden return to World Snooker Tour circuit - 'My dream'

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If you had to answer a pub quiz question on who is the youngest player in snooker history to produce a maximum 147, the names of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, Jimmy 'Whirlwind' White or even 2025 world champion Zhao Xintong might immediately spring to mind.

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But you would be wrong.

The answer is Thai player Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon, who was 16 when he celebrated his record-breaking moment at the age of 16 in 2010.

Thanawat, 32, became the youngest player in history to create a unique slice of history against Barry Hawkins in a 4-1 defeat in the last 32 of the Rhein-Main Masters in Germany.

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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 last 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 served a minimum of two years and nine months before returning to the amateur scene.

And it looks like his comeback might have paid off after he defeated Bai Langning 4-1, boosted by runs of 91 and 68, to secure a return to the main tour for the first time since 2016 at the event 1 final of Asia-Oceania Q School in Bangkok.

"I practised very hard for this Q School because returning to the main tour has always been my dream since I lost my professional status almost ten years ago," said Tirapongpaiboon.

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"I will do my best to perform better than before."

The other tour card on the line from event 1 was claimed by China's Deng Haohui, who completed a 4-1 win over Amir Sarkosh.

Another two cards will be up for grabs from event 2, which is due to conclude on May 25.

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