Cue gold for Tutong

TUTONG'S Muhd Alias Hj Rashid and Teo Chee Soon captured the first medal of the 9th National Sports Festival (PSK) cue sports event when they won the one-day 10-ball pool doubles last night.

Defeating Brunei-Muara's Md Amran Shah Hj Md Isa and Lim Charng Hui 8-5 in a tactical game of cat-and-mouse at the Billiards and Snooker Hall of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas, the pair took a 2-0 lead and never looked back.

Md Amran and Lim could have been forgiven for thinking that the turning point of the game came when they evened the scores at 4-4 after trailing 4-1.

However, the experienced Tutong duo won the next two racks to regain a comfortable lead.

"No, we were never nervous," said Muhd Alias of their opponents' run.

"We were always confident because we have played together many times," said Muhd Alias, who was one of the four Bruneians in April's World Pool Masters qualifiers.

One of the five cue artists in the Asian team which won the Asia vs Europe 9-Ball Team Challenge in January, the soft-spoken Teo is hoping that yesterday's win won't be his last.

"I will be competing with Alias in the 9-ball pool doubles which starts on Friday (July 2) and hopefully we will get another good result," Teo said.

Though the Tutong pair's experience played a part in the win - Teo represented the country during last year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos - mistakes during crucial points of the game cost the Brunei-Muara team the win.

Muhd Alias missed the 9-ball in the 10th frame but Lim was unable to capitalise on the opportunity handed to him, with Teo eventually stepping up to make it 6-4.

Brunei-Muara did have their moments of magic though, with Lim's jump shot over the 9-ball to pocket the 8-ball helping them to cut the deficit to 6-5.

Teo was on a roll in the next frame and easily cleared the table to set the scores at 7-5. The 13th frame was make-or-break for Md Amran and Lim, but after the latter missed the 4-ball, they knew their fate was sealed when Teo came to the table.

Brunei-Muara are the defending champions for the sport after winning a total of two gold, two silver and two bronze medals in 2008.

The Brunei Times