Akani Songsermsawad (; born 10 September 1995), better known as Sunny Akani, is a Thai professional snooker player.
Akani, a regular in amateur Thai snooker events since 2011, first came to international attention with a 5âÂÂ2 win over professional Matthew Selt in the Six-red World Championship, in 2008.
In 2015 he won the ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship, beating Yuan Sijun 6âÂÂ4 in the final and as a result was given a two-year card on the professional World Snooker Tour for the 2015âÂÂ16 and 2016âÂÂ17 seasons. His first appearance in a ranking event qualifier came at the 2016 World Championship, where he was edged out 10âÂÂ9 by compatriot Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the opening round.
Akani qualified for the 2016 Indian Open by defeating Ben Woollaston 4âÂÂ3 and then saw off Jamie Burnett 4âÂÂ1, Mark Davis 4âÂÂ2 and Gary Wilson 4âÂÂ2 (opened the match with a 104 break) to reach the quarter-finals of the first ranking he had appeared at. He took a 2âÂÂ1 lead over Kyren Wilson, but would go on to lose 4âÂÂ2. He also lost in the quarter-finals of the non-ranking Six-red World Championship 7âÂÂ4 to Stuart Bingham. At the Northern Ireland Open, Akani eliminated Cao Yupeng 4âÂÂ1 and Mark Davis 4âÂÂ3 and was knocked out in the third round 4âÂÂ2 by Wilson. He qualified for the German Masters by seeing off Graeme Dott and Jack Lisowski, but was thrashed 5âÂÂ0 by Zhao Xintong in the first round. He stood one win away from playing in the World Championship after defeating Mei Xiwen 10âÂÂ5 and Joe Perry 10âÂÂ9, but was heavily beaten 10âÂÂ3 by David Grace. Akani failed to break into the top 64 in the rankings during his two years on tour, but stayed on it by topping the one-year list.
In 2017, he started the season like the year before. He reached the Last 16 of the 2017 Indian Open after beating Scott Donaldson, Stephen Maguire, and Dominic Dale before losing 4âÂÂ2 to Liam Highfield. At the 2017 World Open qualifying round, he had a close match against Liang Wenbo losing 5âÂÂ4 after being 2âÂÂ0 and 4âÂÂ2 up and scoring back-to-back century breaks (101 and 119) but losing the "decider". At the 2017 International Championship, he was 2âÂÂ0, 3âÂÂ1 and 4âÂÂ2 behind but he won the last 4 frames to beat Marco Fu by 6âÂÂ4. In the last frame, he cleared the table with a break of 53 to win the frame by 2 points. After a walkover in the last 64, he lost against Martin O'Donnell 5âÂÂ6, despite a lead of 5âÂÂ2.
During the 2017 UK Championship, Akani defeated three higher seeds, defeating Fergal O'Brien 6âÂÂ5, Michael Holt 6âÂÂ4, and whitewashing former world championship runner-up Barry Hawkins 6âÂÂ0. After the match, Hawkins said the match "was up there with one of the worst I have ever played". In the last 16, Akani drew Ronnie O'Sullivan and went ahead at scores of 2âÂÂ0, 4âÂÂ2 and 5âÂÂ4, before losing the match 6âÂÂ5. After the match O'Sullivan stated he believed Akani "deserved to win" and "felt like (he) robbed him of victory".
The following competition, the 2017 Scottish Open, saw Akani lose in the first round to Jimmy White 4âÂÂ1.
Akani failed to qualify for the first ranking event of the season, losing 4âÂÂ3 to Oliver Lines in the qualifying round of the 2018 Riga Masters. He beat Fan Zhengyi 6âÂÂ5 to qualify for the 2018 World Open, where he was defeated 5âÂÂ2 in the first round by Barry Hawkins. Akani reached the semi-finals of the non-ranking 2018 Haining Open, where he was defeated 4âÂÂ2 by Li Hang. He followed this by the knockout stage of the non-ranking Six-red World Championship, coming through the round-robin stage by finishing second in Group E, scoring victories over Jimmy Robertson and Mohamed Khairy, and losing to group winner Ding Junhui. In the knockout stage, he beat Stephen Maguire and Mohammed Shehab 6âÂÂ5 to reach the semi-finals, where he lost 7âÂÂ5 to eventual champion Kyren Wilson.
Having failed to qualify for the Indian Open and European Masters, Akani's next ranking event was the 2018 China Championship, where he lost 5âÂÂ3 in the first round to Mark Selby, who would go on to win the tournament. At the 2018 English Open, he defeated 8th seed Kyren Wilson 4âÂÂ3 before losing 4âÂÂ0 to Anthony McGill in the second round. Akani beat Soheil Vahedi 6âÂÂ5 to qualify for the International Championship, where he defeated Mark Williams 6-3 and Zhou Yuelong 6âÂÂ4 to reach the third round, where he lost 6âÂÂ4 to Ali Carter. A 4âÂÂ0 victory over Fan Zhengyi in first round of the 2018 Northern Ireland Open set up a second round tie with Xiao Guodong, which he lost 4âÂÂ3.
Akani enjoyed another good showing at the 2018 UK Championship, defeating Eden Sharav and James Cahill 6âÂÂ5, and winning 6âÂÂ2 against Jak Jones to reach the last 16 for the second year running, where he lost 6âÂÂ2 to Stuart Bingham. His next win at a ranking event came at the Shoot-Out, where he defeated Lyu Haotian and Billy Joe Castle before losing in the third round to amateur player Ryan Davies. Akani finished the season by failing to qualify for the 2019 World Championship, losing in the second round of qualifying 10âÂÂ5 to Robert Milkins. He ended the season 52nd in the Snooker world rankings.
In July, Akani contracted COVID-19, although was not withdrawn from any events. However, in an interview after losing in the 2022 European Masters, he revealed that he had Long COVID and was unable to practise for more than minutes, where normally he would be on the snooker table as much as he was able to be on it. This led to a significant dip in form throughout the 2021-22 season, which led to his eventual relegation from the tour.
Akani reclaimed professional status by reaching the final of Event 1 of the Asia and Oceania Q School.
Akani is known for his very deliberate cue action, where he plants his hand down with the cue before playing the next shot. In the book 147 Snooker Drills and Exercises by Andrew Highfield, he named a challenge after Akani, after challenging him to complete the drill. He is also known for resting his chin on the cue extension when playing with a rest.
Other than playing professional snooker, Akani also produces snooker cues and rests under his name. Ronnie O'Sullivan has been using cues made by him since 2025. On August 15 of that same year OâÂÂSullivan used an Akani cue to make two maximum 147 breaks in his Saudi Arabia Masters semi-final match against Chris Wakelin.