| Fadhil Yunus |
AHMAD Taufiq Murni moved to the quarterfinals of the 8th Golden Break 9 Ball Open 2017 after downing Indonesia’s Iwan 9-2 at the Golden Break Subang USJ in Malaysia yesterday.
In doing so, Ahmad Taufiq produced his best ever performance at the Golden Break tournament eclipsing a feat in 2014 and 2016 when he reached the last 32 on both occasions.
Brunei’s top cueist Taufiq held a 2-1 advantage early in the game before going on a fine run to seal a comfortable win.
Ahmad Taufiq had to go through the losers’ bracket route after being edged out 7-6 by Singapore’s Aaron Koh in the preliminary round.
However, the Bruneian showed his consistency at this point edging out Malaysia’s Darryl Chia 7-6 and then defeating Singapore’s Fraser Leow 7-4.
Taufiq exacted redemption against Koh in the next round in Group ‘F’ to book his spot in the last 32.
The country’s top ranked cueist notched an impressive 9-7 victory over world number 99 Liu Zheng Jie to earn his berth in the last 16.
Meanwhile, Md Azim bin Haji Abu Bakar fell to a 7-6 defeat to a player from Japan, 7-4 to a Malaysian opponent and 7-2 to a Vietnamese player as he failed to progress to the last 32.
World number 3 and defending champion Ko Pin Yi made it to the quarter-finals as of press time after overcoming Philippines’ Anton Raga 9-5.
But there was a major surprise as world number 8 Ko Pin Chung was beaten 9-8 in a nail-biting affair against Philippines Pajuay Valeriano, who is ranked 118 places below him in the world rankings.
Valeriano had also pulled a major upset after shocking world number 9 Carlo Biado in the previous round.
Indonesia’s pair of Jimmy Jusman and Muhd Zulfikri also took a major scalp after ousting world number 21 Jeff De Luna in a historic 9-6 win and world number 74 Jundel Mazon 9-5, respectively.
Ko Pin Yi won the title last year after beating Jundel Mazon in a thrilling 13-11 victory in the final.
Taufiq was scheduled to meet Mark Ryan of the Philippines after the latter clinched a 9-8 win against Yu Li-Si, the conqueror of former world finalist Roberto Gomez, for a place in the semi-finals last night.