Ibrahim wins Borneo Open pool title
Former Asian Games silver medallist Ibrahim Amir emerged as champion in the Borneo Open 10-Ball Pool Championship 2018.
KOTA KINABALU: Former Asian Games silver medallist Ibrahim Amir emerged as champion in the Borneo Open 10-Ball Pool Championship 2018.
The victory did not come easy for the veteran Sabahan as he needed to dig deep into his reserves before overcoming his much younger opponent Kok Jken Yung in the race-to-11 final played at the Sheffield Snooker & Billiard Training Centre in Inanam near here recently.
Ibrahim, who won a silver at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, won 11-10.
Jken Yung, who is also from Sabah, dominated the first 10 rounds by winning seven to Ibrahim's three.
Ibrahim turned on the style in the next four rounds to level the match 7-7 before duo cancelled each other out in the next six rounds to reach 10-10.
The experience that Ibrahim has served him well and after winning their 20th round that saw him level the match, he never looked back as he triumphed in the 21st round to reach the magical number 11 that cemented victory.
In the semi-finals, Ibrahim defeated Tan Den Jie of Kuala Lumpur 11-8 while Jken Yung edged Darryl Chia also of Kuala Lumpur 11-10.
The quarterfinalists are Dominic Ting of Sarawak, Md Azim of Brunei, Adi Sintoyong of Labuan and Sam Loh of Sabah.
Over RM13,000 in prize money was up for grabs where the champion won RM5,000 plus a trophy and the runner-up RM2,000 plus a trophy.
The joint third placing won RM900 and trophy each while the quarter-finalists received RM500 plus a trophy whereas players eliminated in the last 16 each received RM300.
Sabah Snooker and Billiards Association (SSBA) and Sheffield organised the championship.
Meanwhile, SSBA president Frankie Kok thanked all who had helped ensure the success of the six-day championship.
He also thanked the sponsors including Sabah Sports Council, Deputy Chief Minister-cum-Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred M. Tangau, Rural Development Minister Datuk Ewon Benedict, Commex Marketing Sdn Bhd, Middlight Auto Parts Trading Sdn Bhd, FJ Machinery Sdn Bhd, Tong Fong Gears Sdn Bhd, Densfil Auto Parts, PAM Machinery Components (M) Sdn Bhd), MT Auto Parts Sdn Bhd, Soh Kiat Hou, TST Trading Sdn Bhd, JR Consignment Store, Siau Jium Ming, Semangant Berjuang Enterprise, Alex Lim and Hial Lee Marketing Sdn Bhd.