A friendly handshake before the clash. Sim (right) went on to beat Mark 3-0 in the quarter-final on Monday.
SIBU: Defending champion Mark Yeo was bundled out but veteran Danny Wong and top contender Jee Chau Hui survived the quarter-finals of the Sarawak Central Region snooker championship at Executive 3 Snooker Centre here on Monday night.
Yeo went down tamely to last year’s semi-finalist Sim Hong Hui 0-3 (21-55, 16-60, 44-67).
“I reckon it is just not my day. Sim is playing a better game and my salute to him,” Yeo remarked.
Both players threw caution to the wind before Yeo fired the first salvo, taking a 5-0 lead.
Sim, who have yet to win any title in local tournaments, stayed in the hunt in the first game before taking the lead at 10-5.
He widened the gap to 20-9 and a series of silly mistakes by Yeo enabled him to surge to 30-15.
Yeo hoped for a reprieve in the second game, changing his tactical play and instead of going for long short, opted to play safe on most occasions.
But his game plan backfired as Sim was almost perfect with his long shots potting, depriving Yeo chances of any counter-attack.
In the third game, it was point for point until 25-30 before Yeo’s game hit a bad patch again.
“I just could not produce my usual game and I must admit Sim had improved quite a lot. Good luck to him in the championship,” Yeo added.
Seasoned player Danny said his 3-0 win over the up and coming David Wong was his best performance so far.
Danny had been erratic in the last 32 and last 16, having dropped a game each in these two encounters before scrapping through.
However, the match of the night was the showdown between Jee Chau Hui and Ng Hong Man.
Jee, last year’s Sarawak Closed runner-up, had swept through the two earlier rounds by 3-0 margins.
His quarter-final match, however, took almost four hours to complete.
Jee took the first game at 54-21, but Ng fought back to take the next two sets 51-39, 42-10.
Jee withstood the pressure to win the fourth 51-44 before tearing Ng to pieces in the decider.
A total of 48 players are taking part in the championship organised by Sarawak Billiards and Snooker Sports Federation (SBSSF).
Meanwhile, Pau Chiong Kiong also entered the last four after beating Yu Hung Kai 3-1 (47-17, 27-59, 79-30, 63-31) in his quarter-final.