All focused: Lim Kok Leong emerges as the snooker world champion.
PETALING JAYA: Lim Kok Leong pulled off a historic feat by becoming the first Malaysian to win the World Amateur Snooker Championship in Antalya, Turkey on Friday (Nov 11).
The 27-year-old did it in style, overpowering last year's runner-up Amir Sarkhosh of Iran 5-0 (68-63, 67-42, 78-0, 80-7, 73-54) in the final to etch his name in the Malaysian sporting history.
Kok Leong, the Vietnam SEA Games gold medallist, overcame Babah Masih of Pakistan 5-3 (99-26, 109-10, 69-24, 9-70, 68-42, 32-72, 49-70, 72-1) in the semi-finals earlier in the day to earn a prized shot at the title.
In the final, Kok Leong hardly put a foot wrong to seal the title in less than three hours against Sarkhosh, who had earlier knocked out top seed Robin Hull of Finland 5-3 in the other semi-final tie.
Kok Leong had raised hopes of a historic breakthrough after getting past Polish challenger Antoni Kowalski 4-2 (87-7, 101-0, 0-88, 98-0, 32-77, 87-24) in the last eight to become the first ever Malaysian to reach the semi-finals in the world meet.
He was unsuccessful in three previous attempts but today Kok Leong has joined an illustrious list of winners in the 59-year history of the world meet that includes English legend Jimmy White, Hong Kong's Marco Fu and Thailand's James Wattana.
Kok Leong already has one world title to his name this year, having won the World Team Snooker Championship with Moh Keen Hoo in Kuala Lumpur last month.
