Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
NATIONAL cueist Azim Abu Bakar was crowned the champion of the 9-Ball Championship by Permaisuri Imperial City Mall after defeating Rico Herman of Indonesia in the final on Sunday.
The victory saw him walk away with a winner's trophy and cash prize of RM 6,000.
Azim began his campaign by winning all three of his matches in the preliminary round at the Permaisuri Imperial City Mall in Miri.
He then defeated Alfred Ho 7-3 in the last-32 and followed that up with victory over Jay soh by the same scoreline.
The national cueist continued his unbeaten run against Singapore's Dom Wu with an 8-6 win in the quarter-finals.
Azim then edged Rasid Sammy 9-8 in a tense semi-final to advance to the title decider.
"It feels great because this is my first time winning a tournament outside of Brunei," said Azim in an interview with BruSports News.
"I would say I didn’t play that good especially in the semi-finals. I was already leading 7-2 but my opponent managed to catch up until it was 7-8.
"But I got lucky when he made some mistakes and that enabled me to win," he added.
"For my performance in the final, I changed my mindset to be more relaxed and calm.
"I enjoyed the game and in the end, I played better than I expected," continued Azim.
When asked on what's next, Azim replied: "Hopefully my next tournament will be Borneo 9-Ball Open in March 2024 and also I’m preparing for any upcoming international tournaments."
The national cueist went on to thank his wife, his coach (Lim Tat Hwe) for the advice given during his matches and all his supporters.
Meanwhile, Muhd Iman Riyyat saw his campaign end in the last-four.
He defeated Singapore's Leigh Ko 8-6 in the quarter-finals before falling 9-1 to Rico.
Ahmad Taufiq Murni placed fifth after also losing to Rico 8-6 in the last-eight.
