Underdog Liau faces up to Ng in title hunt
SIBU: Last season’s Sarawak Closed champion Ng Hong Man lived dangerously while underdog Liau Chung Kiong battled on to stay in the title hunt at the 2nd Sibu Swan City Snooker Championship semi-finals on Monday night.
Ng had to deep dig before overcoming favorite Mark Yeo 3-2 ( 54- 51, 44- 68, 9- 54, 53-17, 54-17) while Liau had a more comfortable journey defeating unheralded Aaron Teo 3-1 (52-29, 64-13, 54- 63, 58-28) to set up a final showdown between the old and the new.
Past records favor the flamboyant Ng as Liau has never defeated him in their previous encounters.
But Ng pefers to be philosophical about who will take the title.
“The player who makes the least mistakes will win,” he said.
Against Yeo in the semi-final, Ng had to come from behind before finally securing his ticket to the final.
Ng took the first frame but Yeo rallied and took two successive frames before Ng took the fourth frame to level the score at 2-2.
In the final frame, both players played with caution and with five red balls remaining, neither one dared to break the deadlock.
Ng somehow managed to pot one red ball at a very odd angle and followed that up with a cue of 35 points to widen the scoreline to 54-17 before pushing Yeo into submission.
Over at the other table, Liau was about to make history for himself by qualifying for his first ever final appearance.
He took the first two frames but a lapse of concentration in the third frame enabled his opponent Aaron Teo to hit one back.
In the 4th frame, a re- energised Liau surged into an early lead at 104, 21-10 and 32-20 before wrapping up the game.
En route to the semi-final, Liau had also convincingly defeated defending champion Isda Lau 3- 0 ( 56-22, 49-26, 51- 33) in the quarterfinals.