SIBU: A record number of 60 participants took part in the Sarawak Closed Central Region Snooker championship recently but there is really nothing much to shout about when it comes to the discovery of new talented players.
Organised by Sarawak Billiards Snooker & Sports Federation (SBSSF), the championship was aimed at tapping talented players, besides promoting the popularity of the sport.
However, after the week-long competition, all the players who advanced to the last eight were still the same old faces.
The keen challenge posed by the players from Kapit, Sarikei, Saratok, Mukah and host Sibu simply fizzled out even before they reached the last 16.
In the final, defending champion Mark Yeo etched out a superb performance as he came back from the brink of defeat to edge out strong challenger the evergreen veteran Danny Wong 4-3 (31-53,50- 60, 35-67, 48-38, 69-43, 63-53, 65-35) to lift the title.
Joint third placing were Jee Chau Hui and Sim Hong Hui while the quarterfinalists included Pau Chiong Kiong, Joe Ting, Yong Kung Cai and Ng Hong Man.
Event organising chairman Danny Wong was dismayed with the overall results, saying it stopped short of producing new talented players though the championship was enthusiastically participated.
“Even though the top players played to their true ability and with a few upsets along the way, the missing link is still the shortage of new-comers whom we hope to unearth,” he said when contacted.
Nevertheless, Wong saluted SBSSF for taking the initiative to stage the championship which was divided into southern, central and northern zone.
“Hopefully, through such championship, it will eventually help generate and revitalise an interest in the sport among the snooker players in the state,” he added
With the exception of Kung Cai, who is from Sarikei, the rest of the players who qualified for the last eight were the same old faces representing either Sibu Executive 3 Snooker Centre or Sibu Cueball Centre.
Wong had high hopes for Kung Cai, the rising star from Sarikei to excel but his tremendous run was halted by Yeo in the last eight.
He also singled out Chiong Kiong as a tough nut to crack but Chiong Kiong, surprisingly, was knocked out by Hong Hui in the quarter-finals.
“Mark my word, Chiong Kiong has all the qualities to be a star player and provided that his passion and love for the sport remains intact, he should be able to hit the limelight in time to come.”
Touching on the snooker development in the state, Wong reiterated his call to the Local Government Ministry, the Social Development Ministry and the Education Ministry to work together to help promote the sport.
He was confident that the standard of the snooker here would be upgraded if these three ministries were willing to cooperate.
Wong, who had been instrumental in promoting the development of snooker in the state in the past decades, also offered his services to help the state to produce players of national or even international calibre.
“However, for that to materialise, we must first have the inter-school snooker competition for the students. If we can organise the inter-school snooker competition, then it will be easy to scout for talented history and that will eventually set a precedence for the future development of the sport in the state.”