Liau (left) and Thiam shakes hands before the showdown.
SIBU: Title chaser Mark Yeo listed dangerously before overcoming fast improving Christopher Hii 3-2 in the quarter-final of the 3rd leg Sibu City Swan Snooker Championship held at Southern Snooker Centre on Wednesday night.
Yeo, representing Executive 3 Snooker centre, heaved a huge sigh of relief after winning the marathon match that lasted almost four hours.
“It was tough and energy-sapping and my salute to Hii for playing a strong and solid game.
“With his potting accuracy, I am sure he is going to go a step higher in his quest to become a better snooker player,” Yeo said.
The flamboyant Yeo took the first frame at ease, giving Hii little chance to retaliate.
Hii, representing Sarikei Kelab Cue Repok, suddenly awoke from the slumber in the second game, unleashing several long distance shots coupled with pinpoint accuracy which caught Yeo flat-footed before wrapping up the second frame. It was all ties after the fourth frames with both taking two games each.
In the deciding frame, Hii, not showing any sign of slowing down, surged to an early lead at 24-3, 30-15, 37-20 before his game unfortunately hit the brick wall.
Trailing at 30-37 and after potting a red, Yeo skilfully placed the cue ball behind the brown and the angle was so tight that there was no way for Hii to rescue the game.
Hii failed to flush out the cue ball from the brown and in the end surrendered the frame, hence the game.
At the other table, unheralded Ricky Thiam, representing Executive 3 Snooker Centre, was in his element as he upset Liau Cheng Kiong 3-1 to qualify for the semi-final.
Thiam was buoyed with confidence after taking the first two frames.
Liau took the third frame and in the fourth frame, it could be anybody game before Thiam pocketed the black ball to win the frame by a mere two points.
Yeo will take on Thiam in the semi-final tonight and the odds heavily favours Yeo to pull through.
“This is our first encounter and we are yet to test each other strength and I believe the players who make the lesser mistakes will pull through,” Yeo said.