SEPANG – National cueist Lim Kok Leong intends to deliver two gold medals for the snooker camp at the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia after returning with just one gold and one silver from the 2021 edition in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Kok Leong, 27, who delivered gold in the men’s 6-Red singles event in Hanoi, said he has worked doubly hard in training to ensure he can go one better this time after missing out on the snooker men’s singles gold medal.
He missed out on the snooker men’s singles gold after losing to Thai veteran James Wattana in the final.
“This is my third outing in the SEA Games. So, if possible, I want to bag two gold medals in those two events.
“In the 6-Red singles, I feel that I won’t have much problem (winning the gold medal) but I expect stiff competition from cueists from other countries in the snooker singles event,” he said at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, here, before leaving for Cambodia today.
The 2022 World Amateur Snooker champion, who will also be competing in two other events, namely the 6-Red doubles and snooker doubles with the experienced Moh Keen Hoo, 37, is also confident that the national cueists can deliver more than the two-gold targeted this time.
The Kok Leong-Keen Hoo combination had previously bagged the doubles gold at the 2019 edition in Manila, the Philippines but the event was not contested at the 2021 Hanoi Games.
“For the doubles event, we have the potential to strike gold, especially since I will be teaming up with Keen Hoo.
“But we do not want to be over-confident as we feel that all the cueists have an equal chance of winning gold,” he said.
The national cueists will be in action at the NagaWorld Hotel in Phnom Penh from May 7 to May 14. – Bernama, May 5, 2023
