Thiam no match as Ng keeps Swan title

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(From left) Ng, Thiam, Yeo and Teo display their prizes.

SIBU: A ruthless Ng Hong Man raced to a 3-0 victory (57-21, 73-23, 60-59) over darkhorse Ricky Thiam to win the 3rd leg Sibu

City Swan Snooker Championship at Southern Point Snooker Centre here Saturday night.

The defending champion, who was recently appointed as coach by Sibu City Swan Snooker Club, handed his opponent a valuable if brief lesson.

The final showdown was all over in less than 90 minutes.

“I could not tell what happened to my opponent … (but) credit to him for coming this far,” he told The Borneo Post.

The towering Ng surged into an early lead to promptly take the first frame.

In the second frame, he achieved breaks of 25 and 32 to widen the lead as a quick win looked inevitable.

Thiam, who was making his debut final, appeared to be fighting a hopeless battle.

The 35-year-old finally hit his rythm in the third frame and managed to match Ng stroke for stroke as both opted for a cautious game.

Leading 53-49 and with only two coloured balls remaining, Ng committed an unfortunate foul when the cue ball ended up in the pocket, thus handing four points to Thiam to level the scoreline at 53-53.

But Thiam failed to take advantage and, despite potting the pink to lead by 59-53, failure to follow that up by potting the black cost him dearly.

It was a golden opportunity handed to Ng who calmly potted the black to win the frame by a mere one point.

Ng pocketed RM1,000 as champion while Thiam had to be contented with RM500.

Mark Yeo and Aaron Teo, joint third, each collected RM250 while quarter-finalists won RM100 each.