By elliott West
James Wattana is the most famous player to ever be produced by Thailand and has proved his excellence over the years. James was an early career winner, winning his first title at the tender age of just sixteen, the Thailand Masters in 1986. This was the springboard to success and after winning the 1988 World Amateur Championship he turned professional. In the mid 1990’s he won the Thailand Open twice and climbed to number three in the world rankings. Prior to James coming on the scene snooker had been dominated by the English and to a lesser extent, British, Irish, Canadian and Australian players.
Wattana has always been an ambassador for the game in Thailand and across the world and was very successful in UK tournaments in the 1990s reaching two semi-finals of the World Championship in 1993 and 1997, losing narrowly in the latter to Stephen Hendry. Varied success in China, meant that James was a a dominant force in snooker for most of the 1990’s and returned to the top 32 after a very season in 2004/5. However poor form started to emerge in his game and a 10-0 whitewash by Ali Carter in the qualifying stages of the World Championship in 2005 signalled the end of Wattana’s professional career. With limited success in the China Open and the German Masters, James finally dropped off the tour in 2014 and has played as a wildcard ever since.
Like any player who was once at the top of his game, Wattana still gets a great deal of respect whenever he does appear in a tournament and I would compare his following in Thailand to that of Ding Junhui in China. Now a shadow of his former self, the Thai Tornado plays with less gusto but can still give any top player a problematic match before they clear the winning line. James still oozes class when he walks into an arena and truly shows how far and wide snooker is played to a top standard. His natural successor is my opinion is his fellow countryman, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, who plays snooker at an amazing pace, quicker than Jimmy White and Tony Drago. Now that is a bold statement, but just watch him when he gets a chance in a frame. He is just clinical with the cue and usually starts his break with a long red that develops into a winning clearance or a sizeable break.
