Ahmad Taufiq Murni (pic) was sent packing at the New Hanggar International Open Tournament in Jogjakarta, Indonesia.
The national cueist was knocked out in the last-64 after losing 9-5 to Malaysia's top cueist Ibrahim Amir at the New Hanggar Billiard yesterday.
A miss pot by Taufiq in the first rack had resulted in Ibrahim opening up a 4-0 lead. It was a deficit that Taufiq never recovered from despite closing to within 5-7 before his opponent closed out the last two frames.
Taufiq was disappointed in the defeat but felt that his opponent played well with good safety plays.
"I had a chance in the beginning but I blew it in the first frame after a miss pot," said Taufiq in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.
"Then the rest of the game was all safety plays (by Ibrabim). I didn't have a chance to go on the attack.
"Even when I got to the table, there were a lot of tough positioning shots," he said.
"Overall the competition was just okay. I played good in the group stage (due to) mostly open tables.
"I'm disappointed because (I finished) in the top-64. I think I could have gone further," continued the 25-year-old.
National cue sports coach Lim Tat Hwe felt that the shot clock ruling proved to be a factor that affected Taufiq's game.
"It was the safety shot by his opponent as well as the 45-second shot clock which affected his play," said Lim.
"Overall it was a good tournament for both players because they managed to learn some new things such as the in-house rules which was they never experienced and the also the tight shot clock," he added.
Taufiq had opened his campaign on with a 9-1 win over Jalungga of Indonesia before dispatching of another Indonesian Candra 9-5 to see him through to the last-64.
Hj Md Alirani Hj Besar was the only other Bruneian at the Sept 27 - Oct 4 tournament.
He had started off with a 9-5 loss to Indonesia's Freddy before bouncing back with a 9-8 victory over Kok Jken Yung of Malaysia on Sunday.
His campaign came to an end after falling 9-2 to Dubai's Omran in his third game.
A total of 128 players from Brunei, Chinese Taipei, Dubai, the Philippines, Europe, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
The tournament offers a cash prize of US$20,000 to the winner while the runner-up will take home US$8,000.
The third-place finisher will get US$4,000 while the cueist who finishes fourth will be awarded US$1,800.
Fifth to eighth place finishers will get US1,000 while those from ninth to 16th will get US$500. Those from 17th to 32nd will receive US$200.
