Ng poses with the Swan City Cup and King of the King Cup.
SIBU (Dec 25): Ng Hong Man pulled off a remarkable feat at the Cueball Snooker International Centre this week.
The veteran player sealed a back-to-back titles after defeating Jee Chau Hui in the inaugural King of the King Championship Cup on Thursday, a day after clinching the 9th Sibu Swan City Snooker Championship title.
Tournament favourite Ng stunned Jee 2-1 (46-53, 46-9, 63-48) in the final to bring home the King of the King champion trophy.
It was a sweet moment for Ng to get back on top of the podium after claiming his fourth Sibu Swan City title by denying Yu Hung Kai the previous night.
But Ng was unperturbed with the achievement, saying he would continue to work hard to improve his game.
“Ideally, my hope is to see more young passionate players emerging from this championship so that they will keep the sport going and to ensure it remains relevant in Sarawak,” said the 53-year-old businessman.
The towering Ng fired the first salvo to get the match going but Jee caught up to level the score at 10-10.
From then onwards, it was point for point before Ng pulled ahead to widen the gap at 33-20, 37-25, 46-35.
With only three coloured balls remaining, Jee made an opportunistic shot for the blue before clearing the table for a comeback win in the first game.
Ng returned in the second frame match with more urgency.
Instead of going for his trademark long shots, Ng changed tactics before rediscovering his form to surge ahead at 15-8.
It was a sharp start for Ng, aided by an error from Jee who failed to pocket an easy red.
Ng needed no second invitation to pot the red and followed with a break of 15 and virtually gave Jee no chance of a fight back in the second frame.
In the deciding frame, both players opted to throw caution to the wind and chose to play a safe game.
Leading at 35-30 and looking to be in total control, Jee committed a misjudgment when he tried to go for an easy red ball but instead, the ball ended just outside the right corner.
Ng kept his nerve to pot the red and a break of 10 to run into the lead for the first time.
The title was up for grabs as both players have equal chances of winning.
Ng, however, have the last laugh when he cleared the final four colour balls to take the title.
Earlier in the semi-finals, Ng beat Sim Hong Hui 2-0 (49-38, 53-18) while Jee edged Yu 2-1 (19-59, 51-13, 64-1).
The King of the King Championship features only the Swan City Snooker Championship finalists from the latest two editions.
Jee was the champion in the eighth edition while Sim was the runner up.