Top official moots snooker academy for Sarawak

SIBU (Oct 3): A snooker academy has been proposed for Sarawak to motivate the players and upgrade the standard of the sport.

Malaysia Snooker Billiards Federation Secretary Iskandar Perwira Putra made the suggestion after pointing out snooker remains the only sport in the country without an academy.

“However, even without an academy centre, snooker players have throughout the years won gold medals in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games,” he told reporters during the opening of the Sibu Swan Invitational Snooker Championship on Tuesday night.

A total of 62 players including many new faces from throughout the state are taking part in the week-long tournament organised by Sibu Swan City Recreational Club (SCRCS).

Iskandar said since 1989, national snooker players have never failed to deliver gold medals at the SEA Games.

“The best results was during the Thailand 1995 SEA Games when Malaysia won six gold medals in both pool and snooker games,” he recalled.

Iskandar, who is also a SEA referee examiner, said there was once a snooker academy in Kuala Lumpur before it was closed down in 2007 due to negative perceptions about the players and centre.

“Since then, the players had been training on their own, forking out their own expenses and getting their own coaches and other logistics.

“It was very discouraging and demoralising to the players but the players perseverance and their love for the sport enabled them to surge forward and ensured the sport remain relevant,” he said.

However, he argued that players nowadays are more professional with sports ethics playing an important role in any snooker tournament using more down-to-earth rules and regulations that prohibit negative activities from snooker centres.

“The players who won the gold medals for the country were all products of the snooker academy centre in Kuala Lumpur which started in 2003. That speaks volumes on the importance of the snooker academy centre,” he stressed, further advocating for an academy in Sarawak.

Iskandar is in Sibu to conduct a three-day referee course for eight candidates at Executive 3 Snooker Centre.

Currently, there are 84 certified snooker referees in the country with 16 in Sarawak.

Meanwhile, Stanley Chiew, who officiated at the tournament on behalf of Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Alice Lau, said snooker should be viewed with a different and more positive perspective nowadays.

“Snooker is a mind game and it requires strong metal strength and potting accuracy to be a good player,” he added.