It was a mixed outing, and a relatively short one, for Ahmad Taufiq Murni at the 2014 Mezz 10-Ball Asian Tour Singapore leg last weekend.
The national cueist was given a bye in the qualifying rounds and started out his first competition of the year with an 8-1 victory over China's Xiao Dong in the second round on Saturday.
He was then sent packing in the last-16 after an 8-3 defeat at the hands of Malaysia's top cueist Ibrahim Amir, who eventually went on to win the title after dispatching Indonesia's Arun 11-7 in the final on Sunday.
According to national cue sports coach Lim Tat Hwe, the Bruneian got off to a shaky start and fell behind 3-0 to start off the match against Ibrahim.
Taufiq managed to reply with two racks before quickly falling behind 6-2 due to experienced play by his Malaysian opponent.
Ibrahim was riding the momentum at that point while Taufiq had lost his focus resulting in the loss.
Taufiq, whose last tournament at the 27th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar last December, put the blame on himself but said he is taking the positives out of the competition.
"I played bad especially against Ibrahim. I made too many mistakes to start the game off and also totally lost control of my focus," said Taufiq in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.
"My target was to get even further than the top-16 but my poor performance was the cause of my loss.
"Three months of no competitive play and the lack of sparring at the pool house could have been factors.
"Two to three games of sparring is not enough.
"But I did manage to achieve what I wanted (by getting the feel of competition), but overall, I'm just disappointed with my performance.
"I also got to learn more on safety play and I also want to improve on my mental side. That is very important and I'm working on it right now," continued the 25-year-old.
The national cueist is now aiming to compete in two tournaments slated for May; the first to be held in Miri followed by the Jakarta leg of the 2014 Mezz 10-Ball Asian Tour.
The national cueist is now aiming to compete in two tournaments slated for May; the first to be held in Miri followed by the Jakarta leg of the 2014 Mezz 10-Ball Asian Tour.
