17 S’wak players enlist in National Closed Snooker C’ships

SIBU (Aug 7): Newly-crowned Sarawak Closed Snooker Champion Franklyn Nanggai is spearheading the state team at the ongoing National Closed Snooker Championships 2024 held at High End Snooker Club in Kuala Lumpur which will end on Aug 15.

Sarawak Billiards Snooker and Sports Federation (SBSSF) is sponsoring the top four at the recent state closed tournament which include runner-up Brandon Tay and the two losing semi-finalists David Lim and Jacob Wong.

However, six others from Kuching and seven from Sibu have also joined the bandwagon to make use of the opportunity to take part in the national championships.

The six from Kuching are Edmund Bong, Lim Kien Soon, Jet Lee, Benny Lim, Edmonds Chan and Thai Bui Xian while the seven from Swan City Recreation Club Sibu (SCRCS) are Mark Yeo, Ng Hong Man, Sie Leong Ung, Wang Wei Seng, Michael Yao, Daniel Ling Wei and John Ling.

All these 13 are forking out their own expenses for the trip and tournament which features national No.1 Lim Kok Leong and several national players.

Sarawak players took part in the national tournament regularly but have yet to make any breakthrough.

However, in last year’s edition, Bong created history when he upset Lim en route to qualifying for the last 16.

It was by far the best performance by any Sarawak player in history.

Meanwhile, Mark revealed that Sarawak players are targeting to qualify for the last 16.

“Our standard here is still several rungs below that of West Malaysian players due to the lack of competition. As such, we do not expect our players to go far.

Rather, our aim is to upgrade our standard and to learn from the experienced players by taking part in the championship,” he added.

The event is organised by the Malaysian Snooker and Billiards Federation (MSBF).