It’s Ricardo vs Jee in Sarawak Closed snooker showdown in Sibu

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SIBU: Underdog Ricardo Sim proved a tough nut to crack when he stunned title favorite James Giam 4-2 (52-44, 56-29, 23-66, 49-7, 41-48, 52-18) in the semi-final of the Sarawak Closed Snooker Championship at Executive 3 Snooker Centre here on Thursday night.

The other battle for a final berth was a tamer affair. Sibu’s Jee Chau Hui from Sibu was mostly dominant with sharpshooting skills as he eliminated Francis Liaw 4-1 (59-36, 57-77, 55-36, 61-16, 54-47).

Playing his usual set pieces, Sim took an early lead at 7-1, 21-10, before widening the gap to 34-15.

The experienced Giam tried for a comeback and hit a break of 20 to go ahead at 45-39.

However, with three color balls remaining, Giam hit a brick wall and this allowed Sim to clear the table.

In the second frame, Giam rushed to ahead at 16-8, 24-14 before Sim found his rhythm to hit successive color balls to overtake 51-29.

A rejuvenated Giam immediately went into the offensive in the third game, taking an early 41-2 lead and 60-10 before Sim threw away the match.

Sim had a brilliant run in the fourth frame, leading all the way 13-1, 33-6, 39-6 and 49-7 but the flamboyant Giam refused to throw in towel when he secured the fifth frame at 48-41. In the do-pr-die sixth frame, the match was close initially but the steadfast wrapped up eventually at 52-18.

In the other semi-final, Jee easily secured the first frame at 59-36.

Drama unfolded in the second frame when ahead 52-44 and with only three colored balls remaining, Liaw saw a golden opportunity to ‘snok’ Jee.

Despite five head-scratching tries, Jee failed to save the game. Liaw took the frame at 77-57 to level the score at 1-1 apiece.

The minor setback did not affect Jee who powered on to take the next three frames.

Earlier, in the quarter-finals, both Sim and Jee had to fight tooth and nails before securing their final four berths.

Jee was virtually on `death row’ when Edmond Bong, the fast rising star from Kuching’s Chia Ling BIlliards Centre, took a healthy 44-27 lead in the deciding frame.

But Jee managed to pocket the colored balls one by one before he levelling the score 44-44.

The black ball was re-spotted and Jee pocketed the ball again, leaving Edmond in amazement.

Meanwhile, Sim had to count on his luck against Sibu top player Mark Yeo.

Yeo took the first frame at 57-26 and led by 19 points with two colored balls remaining, Yeo suddenly got ‘snoked’.

Yeo tried to rescue the game but failed and with the two colored balls at the pockets. It was easy for Sim to clear the table to take the game 59-54.

Mark took the third frame but Sim was within striking distance to take the remaining two frames to win the match.