National cueist Ahmad Taufiq Murni made it through to the last-64 of the New Hanggar International Open Tournament in Jogjakarta, Indonesia yesterday.

The 24-year-old made easy work of Jalungga Sorong 9-1 in the opening round of the tournament before defeating another Indonesian cueist 9-5 to qualify to the next round.

"I am very happy with my performances today since I didn't make many mistakes in my game," said Taufiq in a telephone interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.

"My two opponents were very good but I managed to keep myself calm and keep the momentum going, and I hope I will be able to perform like this in the last-64 on Wednesday (tomorrow)," he added.

National cue sports coach Lim Tat Hwe was happy with Taufiq's performances but noted he needs to adjust to the rules.

"They have different rules in breaking ... Two balls must pass the table head string, otherwise it is counted as a foul," said Lim.

"Taufiq did very well today but he must adjust to that rule and I hope he will adapt well," he added.

The only Bruneian cueist left in the competition, Taufiq will return to the table tomorrow at the New Hanggar Billiard in Jogjakarta with his opponent only to be determined today.

Compatriot Hj Md Alirani Hj Besar was dumped out of the competition on Saturday.

He started his campaign with a 9-5 loss to Freddy of Indonesia in his first match, sending him into the losers' bracket.

Hj Md Alirani edged Malaysia's Kok Jken Yung 9-8 in the second match to keep his hopes of advancing into the last-64 alive, but he fell 9-2 to Dubai's Omran in the third match and bowed out of the competition.

The duo's last tournament was August's 5th Golden Break 9-Ball Invitational Championship 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, when they were both eliminated in the last-32.

A total of 128 players from Brunei, Chinese Taipei, Dubai, the Philippines, Europe, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are competing at the Sept 27-Oct 4 New Hanggar International Open Tournament.

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.

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.

Courtesy from Brunei Times