It was the end of the road for Hj Md Alirani Hj Besar yesterday after the national cueist crashed out of the New Hanggar International Open Tournament in Jogjakarta, Indonesia.
He started out with a 9-5 loss at the hands of Freddy of Indonesia in his first match sending him into the losers' bracket.
Alirani kept his hopes alive after coming back from four racks down to edge Malaysia's Kok Jken Yung 9-8 in the second match.
With only victory guaranteeing him a slot in the last-64, Alirani dropped 9-2 to Dubai's Omran.
The only other Bruneian at competition, Ahmad Taufiq Murni, will take to the tables in his opener against Jalungga of Indonesia.
A total of 128 players from Brunei, Chinese Taipei, Dubai, the Philippines, Europe, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are expected for the Sept 27 - Oct 4 competition.
Dennis Orcollo, who is ranked fourth in World Pool-Billiards Association (WPA) and second in Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU), and Efren Reyes, who is 21st in the world and 27th in the APBU rankings, will feature in the competition as special guests.
The tournament offers a cash prize of US$20,000 to the winner while the runner-up will take home US$8,000.
