 Nutcharut in 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1999-11-07)7 November 1999 (age 26) Saraburi, Thailand | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sport country |  Thailand | ||||||||||||||
| Professional | 2022–present | ||||||||||||||
| Highestranking | World Snooker Tour: 95 (June 2023) World Women's Snooker: 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | 116 (as of 9 November 2025) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Nutcharut Wongharuthai (Thai:ณัชชารัตน์ วงศ์หฤทัย,RTGS: natcharat wongharuethai; born 7 November 1999), better known asMink Nutcharut, is a Thaisnooker player who competes on both the professionalWorld Snooker Tour and theWorld Women's Snooker Tour. She is the only woman known to have made amaximum break, having achieved the feat during a practice match in March 2019. She is, as of June 2025, number one in the world women's snooker rankings.
Nutcharut was World Women's Under-21 Champion in 2018, was runner-up toReanne Evans in the2019 World Women's Snooker Championship, and won the first of her seven ranking titles at the 2019 Australian Women's Open. She won the2022 World Women's Snooker Championship, defeatingWendy Jans 6–5 on the final black to become the tournament's first Thai winner. She lost the2024 final in thedeciding frame againstBai Yulu.
As world women's champion, Nutcharut earned a two-year card to compete on the professional tour, beginning in the2022–23 snooker season. She andNeil Robertson won the2022 World Mixed Doubles championship, defeatingMark Selby andRebecca Kenna in the final. As the top-ranked player in World Women's snooker at the end of 2023–24, Nutcharut gained a new tour card for the two years starting with the2024–25 snooker season.
Nutcharut Wongharuthai was born on 7 November 1999, inSaraburi, Thailand, and grew up there.[1][2] She is known as "Mink", and explained in a 2019 interview with Matt Huart forWorld Women's Snooker that "in Thailand we call each and everyone by their nickname because our traditional Thai names are too long and we don't have any Christian name like Western people. So we use nicknames instead."[3]
Nutcharut's mother was a cashier in a snooker club, and Nutcharut herself started playing at the age of 10, to occupy her time after school while waiting for her mother to finish work.[3][4] She was encouraged to play by the club's ownerAtthasit Mahitthi, who was a leading player in Thailand,[4] and coached her.[5] Having failed to get into college, Nutcharut took up snooker as a career.[5] She moved to Bangkok, where she practised for eight hours a day at the Hi-End Snooker Club, which sponsors and supports her.[4][3][6]
Nutcharut reached the final of the 2015IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship for women, but lost 2–5 toBaipat Siripaporn.[7] She won in 2016, aged 16, defeating Siripaporn 5–4 in the final.[8][9] and retained the title at the next two annual tournaments.[9] At the2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 6-red snooker, Nutcharut took the gold medal with a 4–0 victory againstWaratthanun Sukritthanes.[10]
At her first tournament in the UK, the 2018 British Open, Nutcharut defeated the reigning world championNg On-yee on the way to her firstWorld Women's Snooker ranking final, in which she lost 0–4 toReanne Evans.[11] Two months later, she won the 2018 World Women's Snooker Under-21 Championship without losing a frame, including a 3–0 victory overEmma Parker in the final.[12]
In March 2019 she made a 147 break during a practice session, which was the first and only knownmaximum break achieved by a female player.[13][14][15] She defeated defending champion Ng in the quarter-final during her run to the2019 World Women's Snooker Championship final, where she lost to 12-time champion Evans.[16][17]
Nutcharut was one of four women to be selected for the Women's Tour Championship held at theCrucible Theatre, Sheffield in August 2019.[18] It was the first time since 2003 that women would play at the venue which has an iconic status in snooker as the location for theWorld Snooker Championship annually from1977.[18] She played Evans in the semi-finals, and after the pair had each won one frame, the match was settled on arespotted black rather than a third frame, due to time constraints. Evans won by potting the ball with atreble.[19] The following month, Nutcharut won the 2019International Billiards and Snooker Federation World Women's 6 Reds Championship, beatingAmee Kamani 4–2 in the final.[20]
At the Australian Open in 2019, Nutcharut and Ng were the only players to complete their qualifying groups without losing a frame.[21] Nutcharut then registered wins over Kimberly Cullen 3–0, Carlie Tait 3–0 andJaique Ip 4–0 to reach the final against Ng.[22] Nutcharut won the final 4–2, gaining her first ranking tournament win.[23]
From February 2020 to January 2022, Nutcharut did not compete on the World Women's Snooker circuit due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. At her first tournament back, she won the 2022 British Open with a 4–3 win against Evans.[24] In March 2020, she retained the IBSF World Women's 6 Reds Championship by defeatingDiana Stateczny 5–3.[25]
At the2022 World Women's Snooker Championship, Nutcharut faced three-time champion Ng in the quarter-finals. Although Nutcharut took a 3–0 lead, Ng came back to force adeciding frame, but Nutcharut won the match 4–3 on the final black.[26] She defeated Rebecca Kenna 5–1 in the semi-finals before facingWendy Jans in the final.[27][28] Although Nutcharut took a 2–1 lead, Jans won four of the next five to lead 5–3. Nutcharut then won the next two to force a deciding frame, in which the title was determined on the final black ball. Jans missed the black into the yellow pocket, leaving it over the middle, allowing Nutcharut to clinch her first women's world title.[28] Nutcharut's victory gave her a two-year professional tour card, allowing her to join Evans and Ng on the main World Snooker Tour the following season.[29] Evans commented that she was not surprised that Nutcharut had won the tournament, commenting that "She's got a good game, a never say die attitude. She has a bright future ahead of her".[30] In the wake of her victory, Nutcharut was invited to meet Prime MinisterPrayut Chan-o-cha, who told her that "You created a good story for Thais during this difficult time."[2] Her next ranking title win was the 2022 Women's Masters, which saw her overcome Ng 4–0.[31] At the following ranking event, she defeated Jans 4–1 to take the 2023 Belgian Women's Open title.[32]
In 2023–24, Nutcharut won two of the season's eight ranking tournaments, and was runner-up at three other ranking tournaments.[33] She defeated Ng 4–2 in the final of the US Open, after which she regained top place in the rankings.[34] Later in the season, she defeated the same opponent by the same score to claim the Belgian Open, for her first successful defence of a ranking title and her seventh ranking title overall.[35] She lost 3–4 to Ng in the final of the Albanian Open, after having recovered from 0–3 to 3–3.[36]
Bai Yulu defeated Nutcharut 6–5 in the final of the2024 World Women's Snooker Championship, winning the deciding frame on the lastpink ball.[37][38] Nutcharut had not lost a frame in that year's tournament before the final.[38] In the fourth final of the season in which she faced Ng, the British Open, Nutcharut lost 1–4.[39] Nutcharut finished the season in top place in the rankings.[39]
Having held the number one ranking in World Women's Snooker from February to May 2023, Nutcharut was replaced by Evans before regaining the top position in August of that year, and retained it as of June 2025.[40] She won the 2024 Australian Women's Open on the final black ball of the deciding frame against Ng.[41] In October 2024 she became a Commander (Third Class) of theOrder of the Direkgunabhorn.[42]
Nutcharut enteredQ School, a qualifying competition for the mainWorld Snooker Tour, several times.[7] At a 2022 event, she defeated five male players including two former professionals.[7][43]
At the first ranking event of the2022–23 snooker season, the2022 Championship League (ranking), Nutcharut was drawn in Group 32 alongsideXiao Guodong,Scott Donaldson andRod Lawler. The tournament directorPaul Collier agreed to her request to be called Mink Nutcharut. The players faced each other in around-robin of four-frame matches. She won the first frame against Xiao, but lost 1–3. From 2–1 against Donaldson, the match ended in a 2–2 draw after he made a 52clearance to win the frame on the finalblack ball. With a 1–3 loss to Lawler, her results meant that she finished fourth in the group, but journalist David Hendon wrote that "over the course of the day the potential of the 22-year-old from Thailand was clear."[44] She was eliminated in her first match in the next two ranking tournament qualifying competitions: 1–5 byMitchell Mann at the2022 European Masters and 2–4 byChen Zifan at the tour's2022 British Open.[7] Nutcharut's first win as a professional was a 4–2 defeat of Mann, who was ranked 71st, during the qualifying competition for the season's fourth ranking event, the2022 Northern Ireland Open.[45][46] She did not win any other singles matches on the main tour in her debut season.[7]
At the2022 World Mixed Doubles championship, the first staging of the tournament since 1991, Nutcharut andNeil Robertson defeated Kenna andMark Selby 4–2 in the final.[47] They both received £30,000 for winning the title, the biggest prize of her career to date.[48] In the2023 World Snooker Championship qualifying competition, she lost 7–10 toDechawat Poomjaeng, but made her firstcentury break in professional competition, becoming the first woman sinceKelly Fisher in2002 to make a century in a World Championship match.[49]
In the2023–24 snooker season, she drew two of her three2023 Championship League (ranking) matches but did not progress.[50] Her only main tour win of the season was in the2023 UK Championship qualifying, when she defeatedAdam Duffy 6–3, but then lost toMichael White in a deciding frame in the second round.[51] In the qualifying event for the2024 World Snooker Championship, she was level with Duffy at 4–4, but Duffy went on to win 10–5.[52][53]
As the top-ranked player in World Women's snooker at the end of 2023–24, Nutcharut gained a new tour card for the two years starting with the2024–25 snooker season.[33][39] On 12 September 2024, she defeated Evans 4–2 in the first round at theEnglish Open in the first match between two female players on the professional World Snooker Tour.[54][55]
In a July 2024 interview, Nutcharut commented that women were able to compete with men at snooker as it is not a contact sport and added, "Sure, there are some elements of strength involved – such as the force behind a strike – but I think that with practice, it's very possible for women to dominate over men in snooker, and that's exciting!"[8]
| Tournament | 2018/ 19 | 2019/ 20 | 2021/ 22 | 2022/ 23 | 2023/ 24 | 2024/ 25 | 2025/ 26 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 95 | [nb 4] | 90 | ||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||
| Championship League | Non-Ranking | A | RR | RR | RR | RR | |||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | 2R | 1R | ||||||||||
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||
| English Open | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||
| British Open | Not Held | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||
| Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | A | A | A | 1R | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||
| International Championship | A | A | Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||
| UK Championship | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | ||||||
| Shoot Out | A | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | |||||||
| Scottish Open | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||
| German Masters | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||
| Players Championship | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||
| Welsh Open | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||
| World Open | A | A | Not Held | LQ | LQ | ||||||||
| Tour Championship | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||
| World Championship | A | A | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||
| Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||
| Champion of Champions | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | |||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||
| Paul Hunter Classic | LQ | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||
| Gibraltar Open | A | WD | A | Tournament Not Held | |||||||||
| WST Classic | Not Held | 1R | Not Held | ||||||||||
| European Masters | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | Not Held | |||||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||
| Six-red World Championship | RR | A | NH | RR | Not Held | ||||||||
| LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) | QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
| SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
| DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
| NH / Not Held | means an event was not held. |
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. |
| R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. |
| Tournament | 2016/ 17 | 2017/ 18 | 2018/ 19 | 2019/ 20 | 2021/ 22 | 2022/ 23 | 2023/ 24 | 2024/ 25 | 2025/ 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Championship | A | A | SF | A | A | SF | QF | SF | SF |
| US Open | Tournament Not Held | A | W | QF | |||||
| Australian Open | Not Held | SF | W | NH | A | SF | W | SF | |
| Masters | A | A | A | QF | A | W | A | F | |
| WSF Women's Championship | Not Held | W | |||||||
| Belgian Open | Not Held | SF | SF | NH | W | W | F | ||
| World Championship | RR | QF | F | NH | W | SF | F | F | |
| British Open | NH | F | Not Held | W | 2R | F | F | ||
| Tournament | 2016/ 17 | 2017/ 18 | 2018/ 19 | 2019/ 20 | 2021/ 22 | 2022/ 23 | 2023/ 24 | 2024/ 25 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Masters | Not Held | F | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||
| 10-Red World Championship | NH | A | QF | QF | Not Held | ||||||||||||
| 6-Red World Championship | NH | A | 1R | F | Not Held | ||||||||||||
| Tour Championship | Not Held | SF | Not Held | ||||||||||||||
| Winchester Open | Tournament Not Held | F | Not Held | ||||||||||||||
| Scottish Open | Tournament Not Held | F | Not Held | ||||||||||||||
| Asia-Pacific Championship | Tournament Not Held | QF | Not Held | ||||||||||||||
| Albanian Open | Tournament Not Held | F | NH | ||||||||||||||
| LQ | lost in the qualifying draw | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) | QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
| SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
| DNQ | did not qualify for the tournament | A | did not participate in the tournament | WD | withdrew from the tournament |
| NH / Not Held | means an event was not held. | |||
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
| R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. | |||
| Legend |
|---|
| †World Women's Snooker ranking tournament |
| ‡IBSF World Championship |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent | Score | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2015 | IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship | Baipat Siripaporn (THA) | 2–5 | [7] |
| Winner | 1. | 2016 | IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship | Baipat Siripaporn (THA) | 5–4 | [9] |
| Winner | 2. | 2017 | Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games: 6-red snooker | Waratthanun Sukritthanes (THA) | 4–0 | [10] |
| Winner | 3. | 2017 | IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship |  Xia Yuying (CHN) | 5–3 | [9] |
| Winner | 4. | 2018 | IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship | Bai Yulu (CHN) | 4–2 | [9] |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2018 | British Open† |  Reanne Evans (ENG) | 0–4 | [57] |
| Winner | 5. | 2018 | World Women's Snooker Under-21 Championship | Emma Parker (ENG) | 3–0 | [58] |
| Winner | 6. | 2018 | UK Women's Championship (Under-21s) | Shannon Metcalf (ENG) | 2–1 | [59] |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2018 | European Women's Masters† | Reanne Evans (ENG) | 1–4 | [60] |
| Runner-up | 4. | 2018 | European Women's Masters (Under-21s) | Emma Parker (ENG) | 0–2 | [61] |
| Runner-up | 5. | 2019 | Belgian Women's Open (Under-21s) | Steph Daughtery (ENG) | 0–2 | [62] |
| Runner-up | 6. | 2019 | World Women's Snooker Under-21 Championship | Ploychompoo Laokiatphong (THA) | 1–3 | [63] |
| Runner-up | 7. | 2019 | World Women's Snooker 6-Red Championship | Reanne Evans (ENG) | 1–4 | [64] |
| Runner-up | 8. | 2019 | World Women's Snooker Championship† | Reanne Evans (ENG) | 3–6 | [65] |
| Runner-up | 9. | 2019 | IBSF World Snooker Championship‡ |  Ng On-yee (HKG) | 2–5 | [66] |
| Winner | 7. | 2019 | IBSF World Women's 6 Reds Championship |  Amee Kamani (IND) | 4–2 | [20] |
| Winner | 8. | 2019 | Australian Women's Open Championship† | Ng On-yee (HKG) | 4–2 | [67] |
| Winner | 9. | 2020 | IBSF World Women's 6 Reds Championship |  Diana Stateczny (GER) | 5–3 | [25] |
| Winner | 10. | 2022 | British Open† | Reanne Evans (ENG) | 4–3 | [68] |
| Winner | 11. | 2022 | World Women's Snooker Championship† |  Wendy Jans (BEL) | 6–5 | [69] |
| Runner-up | 10. | 2022 | IBSF World Snooker Championship‡ | Wendy Jans (BEL) | 1–4 | [70] |
| Runner-up | 11. | 2022 | Scottish Women's Open† | Reanne Evans (ENG) | 2–4 | [71] |
| Winner | 12. | 2022 | Women's Masters† | Ng On-yee (HKG) | 4–0 | [31] |
| Winner | 13. | 2023 | Belgian Women's Open† | Wendy Jans (BEL) | 4–1 | [32] |
| Winner | 14. | 2023 | US Women's Open† | Ng On-yee (HKG) | 4–2 | [72] |
| Winner | 15. | 2024 | Belgian Women's Open† | Ng On-yee (HKG) | 4–2 | [73] |
| Runner-up | 12. | 2024 | Albanian Women's Open† | Ng On-yee (HKG) | 3–4 | [74] |
| Runner-up | 13. | 2024 | World Women's Snooker Championship† | Bai Yulu (CHN) | 5–6 | [75] |
| Winner | 16. | 2024 | Australian Women's Open† | Ng On-yee (HKG) | 4–3 | [41] |
| Runner-up | 14. | 2024 | Women's Masters† | Reanne Evans (ENG) | 3–4 | [76] |
| Winner | 17. | 2025 | World Snooker Federation Women's Championship† | Bai Yulu (CHN) | 4–3 | [77] |
| Runner-up | 15. | 2025 | Belgian Women's Open† | Reanne Evans (ENG) | 3–4 | |
| Runner-up | 16. | 2025 | British Open† | Ng On-yee (HKG) | 3–4 | [78] |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Team/partner | Opponent in the final | Score | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2022 | World Mixed Doubles |  Neil Robertson (AUS) | Mark Selby (ENG) Rebecca Kenna (ENG) | 4–2 | [79] |
