I missed my daughter’s birth to play at World Snooker Championship and her name was inspired by one of my rivals

A SNOOKER star missed the birth of his child to play at the World Championship.

Noppon Saengkham was playing at the Crucible in 2022 when his daughter was born in his native Thailand.

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Noppon Saengkham missed his daughter’s birth to play at the 2022 World Snooker Championship[/caption]

PA

He drew on inspiration from Mark Selby for his daughter’s name[/caption]

He had beaten Luca Brecel in the first round to set up a tie with four-time world champion John Higgins, who beat him 13-7.

But Saengkham was not too disheartened about missing his daughter’s birth, revealing at the time he could video call his wife to see her.

He said at the time: “I’m very happy, my daughter was born yesterday at 7am UK time. I speak with my wife every day.

“I’ll see my daughter on a video call so everything will be OK.”

Saengkham, 32, turned professional in 2010 but has only reached one ranking final – the 2023 Scottish Open.

But he has beaten some of the biggest names in the sport including Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson, as well as one of the players he admires the most – Mark Selby.

Saengkham even drew on inspiration from Selby to name his daughter, Believe.

Selby uttered the words “Believe, believe, believe” down the camera lens when he was losing in the 2017 World Snooker Championship final – a match he came back to win.

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Saengkham was impressed by his never-say-die attitude and thought Believe would be an apt name for his daughter.

He said: “I got the idea of the name from when Mark Selby was 10-4 down against John Higgins in the 2017 World final.

“He said ‘believe, believe, believe’ when the camera was on him – and he came back to win. He knows I like him. I love his game. His game is to never give up. That is why I like him.”