Ng On-yee
Ng On-yee is a Hong Kong professional snooker player who has won three IBSF World Snooker Championships and three World Women's Snooker world championships. She held the number one position in the World Women's Snooker world ranking list from February 2018 to April 2019.
After competing in several International Billiards and Snooker Federation tournaments, Ng became the youngest-ever IBSF women's world champion at the age of 19 and successfully defended the title the following year. At the 2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship she defeated Reanne Evans—who had held the title for the previous ten years—in the semi-final and won the title. After losing the final of the same tournament to Evans the following year, Ng regained the title in 2017, defeating Evans 5–4 in the semi-final and overcoming Vidya Pillai 6–5 in the protracted final. In 2018, Ng won the title for a third time and in 2019 she collected her third IBSF World Title.
Ng took up snooker at the age of 13 after being impressed by her father's skill at the game. She has been supported by the Hong Kong Sports Institute since 2010. Her highest in competition is 139, which she achieved at the 2018 Australian Women's Open.
Early life
Ng was born on 17 November 1990. She grew up in Hong Kong, within the working-class district of Sham Shui Po. She began learning to play snooker at the age of 13 in the snooker hall in which her father worked. He encouraged her to take up the game because she was lacking direction, performing poorly at school, and spending a lot of time playing online games. Ng was impressed by her father's playing ability and attire; she took up the sport and was coached by her father. She started entering tournaments in 2006.She would practise the sport for between five and six hours daily; in one of her practice routines, Ng would cue through a small ring placed on the table to help assess her accuracy. Her first international tournament was the 2006 IBSF Women's Championship in Amman. In 2007 and 2008, she won the Hong Kong Under-21 Snooker Open Championships, in which she competed against male players.
Ng left school at 17 to concentrate on her snooker skills but later returned to studying, and in 2016 gained a Higher Diploma in accounting from the School of Professional and Continuing Education of the University of Hong Kong.
Career
Since 2010, Ng has been supported by the Hong Kong Sports Institute, where she is an elite sports scholarship athlete. In 2015, she was receiving HKD25,000 a month from the HKSI.2007–2009: IBSF tournament success
Ng's first experience of an international snooker competition was at the 2006 IBSF Women's Championship in Amman, Jordan, where she won three of her eight matches in the qualifying group, winning 13 and losing 16.In the group stage of the 2007 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship, she recorded a 3–0 win over Hasani Armaghan of Iran and a 3–1 win over Arantxa Sanchis but lost 0–3 to Bi Zhu Qing. She also achieved 3–0 wins over Ramona Belmont of New Zealand, and Aakanksha Singh and Keerath Bhandaal from India, the latter of whom was aged 11. In the semi-final, Ng won the first frame against her opponent Belmont, who took the next one. Ng won the following two frames to face Bi Zhu Qing in the final, in which Ng lost the first two frames then equalised the score to 2–2 before losing the last two frames. Bi won the match 4–2.
Ng lost her quarter-final match 2–3 to Bi Zhu Qing at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games in Macau in November 2008.
In the qualifying group for the 2009 IBSF World Snooker Championship, Ng lost 2–3 to Ramona Belmont, whom she had defeated twice in the 2007 under-21 championship, and then bested Anuja Chandra 3–1 and Yu Ching Ching 4–2. In the last-16 round, Ng was trailing 0–2 to Yu Ching Ching but won four frames in a row to win the match 4–2. In the semi-finals, Ng faced Belmont and prevailed 4–3, having led 2–0 before falling behind 2–3. In the final, Ng produced some impressive and defeated Kathy Parashis, a 10-time winner of the Australian Open, 5–1. When Ng was leading 3–1, the players were summoned to drug tests and returned to take the remaining frame she required to win the match, becoming the youngest-ever IBSF women's champion at the age of 19.
Ng was omitted from the Hong Kong squad for the 2009 East Asian Games, which were held in Hong Kong soon after her victory in the IBSF World Championship, because she was unable to attend the team training camp.
2010–2011: Second IBSF world title
At the 2010 Asian Games, Ng won the gold medal as a member of the women's six-red snooker team, along with So Man Yan and Jaique Ip. She also won a bronze medal for reaching the semi-finals in the six-red singles competition. She lost 3–4 to Chen Siming in the semi-finals of the individual competition.On 15 December 2010, Ng successfully defended her IBSF World Snooker Championship title in Syria, defeating compatriot Jaique Ip 5–0 in the final. Having won the first three frames comfortably, Ng won the last two frames on the. On her way to the final, Ng won all six of her matches in the qualifying group without losing a frame. She then defeated Eslami Taherh 4–0 in the last 16, Anuja Chandra 4–3 in the quarter-finals—the only match in which Ng lost any frames—and Vidya Pillai 4–0 in the semi-finals. Ng reached the quarter-final of the 2011 WLBSA World Championship, losing 1–4 to eventual winner Reanne Evans.
2012: First ranking event win
Ng won her first women's ranking event, the 2012 Northern Championship, without losing a frame during the tournament. She bested Maria Catalano 3–0 in the final.Having won the previous two IBSF world championships, in 2009 and 2010, Ng topped her qualifying group in 2012 by winning all four matches. She then progressed by defeating Arantxa Sanchis 4–1 in the last 16, Nicha Pathomekmongkhon 4–2 in the quarter-finals, and Siraphat Chitchomnart 4–2 in the semi-finals. In the final, Ng won only the third frame, losing 1–5 to Wendy Jans. In the WLBSA World Championship, Ng won all of her five qualifying group matches but lost in the last 16 to Yu Ching Ching.
2013: Six-reds success
Ng won a silver medal at the 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Six-red snooker in July, losing 3–4 to Amornrat Uamduang in the final. At the WLBSA World Championship, she lost 0–4 to Maria Catalano in the semi-finals.In October 2013, Ng won the inaugural IBSF World Six-red snooker Championship in Carlow, Ireland. In the final, her opponent Daria Sirotina failed to score in three of the four frames Ng won to take the title 4–0, the frame scores being 34–0, 43–0, 45–37 and 42–0. Ng was also, with So Man Yee, runner-up in the Six-red team event. In November of the same year, Ng won the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association UK Ladies' Championship, defeating Maria Catalano 4–2 in the final.
2014: World Championship runner-up
Ng won the WLBSA Southern Classic in February with a victory over Maria Catalano in the final. She was the losing finalist in the WLBSA World Championship, losing 0–6 to Reanne Evans after winning 3–0 against Laura Evans, 4–2 against Tatjana Vasiljeva and 4–3 against Emma Bonney to reach the final. Ng also reached the semi-finals of the IBSF World Championship, losing 1–4 to Wendy Jans.2015: Ladies' World Champion
In February 2015, Ng lost 1–5 to Reanne Evans in the final of the Eden Resources Masters tournament.At the 2015 World Ladies Snooker Championship held in Leeds, England, Ng topped her qualifying group. Three frames were played in each match; Ng won 3–0 wins over Annette Newman, Gaye Jones and Michelle Brown, and had a 2–1 win over Yana Shut. In the last 16, she defeated Anastasia Tumilovich 3–0, and in the quarter-finals bested Emma Cunningham 4–0. In the semi-finals, she faced Reanne Evans, winner of the title in each of the previous ten years. Ng took the first frame 63–51, scoring a break of 44, but then lost the next two frames. A of 33 saw Ng take the fourth frame 53–43 to equalize at 2–2. She then took the lead by winning the fifth frame 84–0 with breaks of 25 and 55. In a close sixth frame, Ng cleared the last four colours to win the frame 51–47 and the match 4–2, ending Evans' decade-long reign as champion. Emma Bonney won the first two frames of the final, winning them 59–22 and 68–38. Ng won the scrappy, 47-minute third frame 45–11. The highest break in the fifth frame, which took 46 minutes and 58 seconds, was eight, with Ng taking it 72–20. Ng then made five breaks in the twenties and won the next three frames to become the first new world ladies' champion since Reanne Evans won the first of her ten consecutive titles.
On 11 August 2015, Ng defeated India's Vidya Pillai 5–2 in the World Ladies Championship final in Karachi, Pakistan, to claim her second IBSF World Six-red women's title. Ng emerged from the qualifying groups in fourth place overall and defeated Arantxa Sanchis 4–0 and Amee Kamani 4–1 to reach the final.
2016: World Championship runner-up
Ng reached the final of the 2016 Eden Classic, defeating fellow Hong Kong players Katrina Wan 3–2 and Jaique Ip 4–1 after qualifying for the knockout stages but Ng lost 1–4 to Reanne Evans in the final. Ng and her playing partner Katrina Wan Ka Kai won the 2016 World Women's Snooker pairs title by defeating Maria Catalano and Tatjana Vasiljeva 4–1 in the final.At the 2016 World Ladies Snooker Championship, the top-eight seeds, including defending champion Ng, were placed in the knockout and each faced a qualifier. Ng progressed to the final without losing a frame, besting Laura Evans 3–0, Katrina Wan 4–0, and Rebecca Kenna 4–0. In the final, Reanne Evans took the first frame but Ng won three in a row to go two frames ahead. Evans won the next two frames to equalize at 3–3. Ng then took the seventh frame to lead 4–3. Evans then won three consecutive frames to take the match 6–4 and win the title.
Ng was granted a wild card for the 2016 World Snooker Championship as the Women's World Champion, and became the first Asian woman to play in the World Snooker Championship, losing 1–10 to Peter Lines in her first match. With Katrina Wan, Ng won the IBSF World Six-reds snooker team tournament in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, with a 4–3 victory over Vidya Pillai and Amee Kamani of India in the final. Fifteen minutes after the conclusion of the team final, Ng played Pillai in a quarter-final match of the singles and lost 2–4.
Ng won the inaugural Paul Hunter Classic, which was held in Fürth, Germany. After winning all three matches in her qualifying group 3–0, Ng won the deciding frame 4–3 against Irina Gorbataya in the last 16, having trailed 1–3. She progressed through the quarter-finals and semi-finals without losing a frame in either round. Ng won 4–0 over Wendy Jans, during the third frame of which she made the tournament's highest break, a 104. She then defeated Maria Catalano, also 4–0. In the final, Ng took a 2–0 lead against Reanne Evans, who won the third frame. Ng won the next two frames, both of which were closely contested, to win the final 4–1.
At the first Asian Billiard Sports Championships, which was held in 2016 in the United Arab Emirates, Ng defeated Arantxa Sanchis 5–1 in the semi-finals and Vidya Pillai 5–1 in the final to gain the title. Ng lost 3–4 to Reanne Evans in the semi-finals of the UK Championship in November, and 1–4 to Wendy Jans in the quarter-final of the IBSF World Snooker Championship later the same month.