Un-Nooh added contributions of 95, 74, and 68 in a dominant display that saw him reach the fourth round at the Green Halls in Jeddah.

The maximum effort puts the 40 year-old in line to claim the £50,000 prize that’s on offer for making a 147 break at the lucrative tournament.

But it additionally means that the former Shoot Out champion is one-half of the way to banking the whopping £147,000 bonus that is up for grabs on the World Snooker Tour this season.

It was announced last week that the jackpot would be returning for the third campaign in a row, with any player to compile a brace of 147 breaks in the major events in line to receive the windfall.

The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters has been included in the group of qualifying competitions for the first time, alongside established majors at the UK Championship, the Masters, and the World Championship.

Last season, Jackson Page pocketed the £147,000 bonus after becoming the first player to compile two maximums in the same match during his World Championship qualifying fixture with Allan Taylor.

Given the natural talent at his disposal and the sheer number of times he gets himself into a position to make a 147 break, there’ll be many fancying Un-Nooh to complete the feat this term.

“It feels amazing,” Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, who has famously missed the final black to compile a 147 break three times in the past, said via WST.

“It’s so difficult to make a 147, especially with the big prize money. There is a lot of pressure.”

“I previously missed the final black so that was in my head, but I told myself ‘go for it’ and it was quite an easy black this time.

“If I have a chance of another 147 now I will go for it, that’s my style.”

Next up in the Kingdom for the Bangkok player known as F1 is former Crucible runner-up Jak Jones, who got his tournament off to a positive start by beating Huang Jiahao.

Another busy day of action on day three saw the players seeded from 17 to 48 in the draw enter the fray.

That included the likes of Stephen Maguire and Joe O’Connor – finalists in the season-opening Championship League Snooker ranking event – with the pair emerging with tight 4-3 victories.

Other dramatic affairs saw Gary Wilson, Noppon Saengkham, Aaron Hill, Chang Bingyu, Jamie Jones, Steven Hallworth, and Oliver Lines advance from deciding frames – the outcome of the latter’s game with Matthew Selt determined on the final black.

There were successes elsewhere for Stuart Bingham over 14 year-old Michal Szubarczyk and David Gilbert against Artemijs Zizins.

But several up-and-coming young talents extended their stays in the tournament, including 18 year-old Stan Moody who produced a fine display to oust Ryan Day.

Fellow teenagers Iulian Boiko and Lan Yuhao – a rookie this season and just 16 years old – also moved forward to the fourth round.

That stage will take place on Monday with the format increasing to the best-of-nine frames and spots in the last 32 against the top 16 seeds on offer.