Fadhil Yunus
Brunei Darussalam welcomed a new cue sports talent in the amateur scene after Mohd Riyyat Iman Mustaqim bin Mohd Shahjohan emerged champion of the Julok at The Walk and Yi’s Nation Amateur 8-Ball Pool Tournament, at Julok at The Walk in Beribi yesterday.
The newly-crowned winner produced a composed performance to beat runners-up Razzi Salman Shariff Abdullah 5-3 in a highly engaging final.
The opening stages of the match saw Razzi Salman seal the first rack after his bank shot reached the pocket before Mohd Riyyat Iman cleared the table to level the scores.
Mohd Riyyat Iman showed solid form in his next visit to the table and had only a ball left to repeat his earlier play but Razzi Salman staged a recovery to pull ahead again.
With Mohd Riyyat Iman facing a similar situation as the previous frame, he made sure that Razzi would not be running away with the lead and got back into the game.
Growing in confidence, Mohammad Riyyat finished the remaining two balls before keeping up his good form to reach the hill and put himself within a frame away of tournament glory.
He held his nerve and potted the winning ball and etched his name as an inaugural winner of the competition.
Meanwhile, Marzuq Zufayri bin Mohamad secured third place after defeating Awangku Md Iqbal Hisyamuddin bin Pengiran Nordin 5-1 in a playoff.
Thirty-two amateur participants including recreational cueists and enthusiasts registered for the tournament with more than 140 head-to-head rounds over three days.
The tournament initially commenced with the group stages last Friday and Saturday played in a round robin format with the top two players of each group advancing to the last-16 round. The meet came to a conclusion with the finals as well as the third and fourth place.
A spokesperson from Julok at The Walk said, “We would like to thank all the players and supporters for bringing cue sports to another level.
“We would also like to thank Yi’s Nation for sponsoring the event which allowed all levels of amateur pool players a platform to play competitively.”
Yi’s Nation founder Han Yei Siew presented the prizes.
