Malaysia's Asian dream snookered by India
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia came within touching distance of creating history at the Asian Team Snooker Championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka only to settle for silver after a 3-1 defeat to India in the final on Saturday.
The duo of Thor Chuan Leong and Lim Kok Leong fought bravely but were eventually outgunned by the Indian trio of Aditya Mehta, Brijesh Damani and Pankaj Advani, with frame scores of 58-68, 66-25, 75-33, 58-1 in the best-of-five tie.
It would have been Malaysia's first-ever title in the prestigious team event.
Still, the result marks a commendable end to a strong campaign for the national team, especially after Chuan Leong had created history earlier in the week by winning the Asian Six-Red Championship — becoming the first Malaysian to do so.
To reach the final, Malaysia edged past Hong Kong 3-2 in a tense come-from-behind quarter-final on Friday, before producing a composed 3-1 victory over Pakistan in Saturday's semi-finals.
While the partnership between Chuan Leong and Kok Leong lacked the fluid chemistry seen in more established pairings, their strong individual skills carried Malaysia all the way to the title decider.
"It is a great result, considering that they paired up for the first time in a team event," said Malaysian Snooker and Billiards Federation (MSBF) president Melvin Chia.
"Kok Leong used to partner with Keen Hoo, and with Chuan Leong, there's still a lack of chemistry between them. But this is also good news for us because India — who beat us — are not our Southeat Asian competitors. They had seasoned players like multiple world champion Pankaj Advani.
Melvin believes the pairing has strong potential, with only minor adjustments needed heading into the Sea Games in Thailand later this year.
"We don't have much to polish up — both are skilfully strong. The main area is pairing coordination. Both are sharp shooters, but Lim is weaker in safety play. That's what we need to work on in his preparation."
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