Ng to defend snooker title against Thiam

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SIBU: Mark Yeo’s dream of lifting his first title of the year fizzled out while defending champion Ng Hong Man continued his unrelenting march towards the final in the 3rd leg of Sibu City Swan Snooker Championship at Southern Point Snooker Centre here Friday night.

In the biggest upset of the competition Yeo was forced to bite the dust when he lost to little known Ricky Thiam 1-3 (35-51, 48-58, 55-43, 20-42) in their semi-final match.

Yeo, representing Executive 3 Snooker Centre,  was eyeing a final showdown with Ng. And that could have contributed to his downfall when he was punished by his opponent for being overly confident.

“I have never before lost to him in any matches and I must admit that it was unlucky that night. Nevertheless, my congratulations to him for making the final and I wish him all the best,” he said.

Thiam, 35, surprised even himself and said it was his best performance thus far.

“It’s great to qualify for the final and hopefully, I will be able to keep my feet firmly on the ground and the momentum in the final showdown with Ng,” he said.

In the semi-final Thiam’s confidence grew after he won the first two frames and, despite Yeo  wrestling a frame back, Thiam refused to feel intimidated.

Yeo threw eveything into the fourth frame and was trailing 14-24 when he skifully pushed the cue ball behind a coloured ball for a `snok’ after he potted a red.

However, Thiam cooly stepped in and, to the amazed crowd, he not only managed to rescue the red ball but the ball also rolled into the left pocket, enabling him to follow up with a break of 10 points before clearing the table.

In the other semi-final Ng showed consistency as he steamrolled over newcomer Aaron Teo 3-1 (68-16, 69-17, 33-76, 59-20) without much hassle.

He did allow a surprise slip-up in the third frame to affected his morale and did not give Teo any space to dictate the game in the fourth frame before wrapping up the match in about three hours.