Top players in battle for honours at Borneo Open 10-Ball Pool
KOTA KINABALU: A total of 64 players are vying for honours in the Borneo Open 10Ball Pool Championship which will be held at the Sheffield Snooker and Billiards Training Centre in Inanam here, next week (Dec 25-30).
Sabah Snooker and Billiards Association (SSBA) president Frankie Kok (pic) said the players, who are from Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia would be divided into 16 groups.
Only the best two players from each group will qualify for the next stage.
Kok said among the entries are 13 players from Brunei including defending champion Teo Chee Soon, Md Khalid and Hj Md Haikal.
“Sarawak will have seven players led by David Tan, while Labuan have six players led by Vincent Lim. We also have three players from West Malaysia led by national cueist Darryl Chia as well as national player Kok Jken Yung, who is ranked number 1 in Sabah.
“Muhd Almie Muhd Yakup who is Sabah's number 2 will also be competing as well as veteran players Ibrahim Amir, Rasid Samy and Loo Yew Keat,” said Kok, while revealing that he too would be in the fray.
The tournament offers attractive cash prizes to the winners including RM5,000 for the champion, RM2,000 for the runner-up and RM900 for semifinalists.
Losing quarter-finalists will receive RM500, while losers in the round of last 16 will walk away with RM300 each.
“The group stage will be played using a double elimination – race to 7 format, while the knock-out stages will be a single elimination – race to 9 format. The final will be a race to 11,” said Kok.
Towards this end, Kok, who is also the tournament director urged all players to adhere to the dress code of a pure colour polo T-shirt, trousers and leather shoes.