TOKEN OF APPRECIATION: David (left) hands over a memento to Sikie, witnessed by Lai (centre) and other officials at the opening ceremony.
MIRI: Twelve players – four each from the three zones in Sarawak – will be selected to represent the state in the National Billiards Championship this year.
Their selection is based on the results of the championships held in the three zones — southern, central and northern.
The championships for the southern and central zones were held last year.
“In all, 12 players will be selected to represent the state in the national championship this year,” Sarawak Billiards and Snooker Sport Federation
(SBSSF) Miri chairman John Sikie Tayai disclosed at the opening of the Sarawak Northern Zone Snooker Championship from Jan 10 to 14.
“For the northern zone tournament, a total of 44 players are taking part but only four will be picked for the national championship in Kuala Lumpur this year,” added Sikie, the Assistant Minister for Local Government.
Also present were Miri Mayor Lawrence Lai and SBSSF deputy chairman-cum-tournament coordinator David Tan.
According to Tan, the tournament is the last leg of the Sarawak Zone Snooker Championships 2011 which were held in the central zone (Sibu) in September and the southern zone (Kuching) in November last year.
He said the championships were part of the SBSSF’s programme to promote billiards (snooker) in the state.
Last year, the federation sent teams for the Golden Break Asian invitational 9 Ball Championships in Kuala Lumpur in August and the 4th Borneo Games in Samarinda, Indonesia, in December last year.
Tan added that SBSSF had been actively promoting billiards locally for many years in a bid to make the state the country’s powerhouse in the sport.
“The aim is to produce more world class players from Sarawak,” he said.