Kok Leong to turn professional in two years
SEPANG, Nov 13 (Bernama) -- World Amateur Snooker Championship 2022 champion Lim Kok Leong is giving himself another two years before turning professional.
Kok Leong, who created history as the first Malaysian player to win the world amateur title, admitted that he needed to gain more experience at the amateur level before competing against world-class snooker players at the professional level.
"I'm not rushing to turn professional, what's important is that I gain more experience at amateur tournaments and I want to defend the gold at the SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia next year,” he said after arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport here today.
On Friday (Nov 11), the 27-year-old cueist created a sensation at the International Snooker and Billiards Federation (ISBF) World Championship in Antalya, Turkiye after outclassing Asian champion Amir Sarkhosh of Iran 5-0 (68-63, 67-42, 78-0, 80-7, 73-54) in the final.
In May, Kok Leong won the gold medal in the men's snooker and billiards six-red singles event and took silver in the men's snooker singles event at the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.
In October, Kok Leong teamed up with Moh Keen Hoo to win the World Men's Team Snooker Championship title in Kuala Lumpur. This was the second time they clinched the title after last winning it in 2015 in Karachi, Pakistan.
In the meantime, Kok Leong said that he was under no pressure to perform in the final in Antalya because he felt that he was at his peak following his success with Keen Hoo.
The cueist, who is from Butterworth, Penang, was also moved by the congratulations expressed by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah via the Istana Negara Facebook page yesterday.
“I want to dedicate the success in Turkiye to Malaysia because we have never won any (world singles) title before,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Snooker and Billiards Federation (MBSF) president Melvin Chia hopes that Kok Leong’s success will open the eyes of all parties, especially the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Sports Council, in further developing the sport.
-- BERNAMA
