Top cueists give Swan City Cup snooker a miss
SIBU: Three- time champion Ng Hong Man has ruled out of defending his title at 5th Swan City Cup Snooker Championship to be held at Southern Point Snooker Centre here on Jan 6.
Also giving the tournament a miss are former champion Isda Lau and Mark Yeo.
Ng consecutively won the second to fourth editions of the tournament, Lau is the winner of the first edition while Yeo is the state former champion.
Yeo, who is also chairman of Swan City Recreational Club Sibu (SCRCS), said chances should be given to the new faces so as to create a bigger pool of players in the state.
A total of 32 players will compete in the eight- day championship aimed at uplifting the standard of the sport in Sarawak, besides fostering closer rapport among the snooker enthusiasts.
Yeo said the championship, which is sanctioned by SCRCS, is to ensure the sport would remain relevant for a long time to come.
“The Swan City championship is the only event where local players can showcase their skills,” he added.
He said the championship is hosted on rotation among snooker centres here that formed the SCRCS.
The champion will bring home RM800, first runner-up will get RM400, joint third RM200 and quarter-finalists RM100 each.
The highest break with a minimum of 50 points will get an additional RM200.
Meanwhile, Yeo again called on officials from Sarawak Billiards & Snooker Sports Federation ( SBSSF) to come up with more competitions to promote the sport in the state.
He lamented that SBSSF had not staged major event for the past few years and this had brought about a negative perspective among the players on the federation.
Yeo said the aim of SBSSF is to promote snooker development in the state but going by the recent indications, SBSSF appeared to have the lackadaisical attitude in organising competitions.
“With no competition, all the top players in Sarawak will not be able to come together to compete, hence uplifting the standard of the game,” he said.