Miri - The Brunei Darussalam Cue Sports Association (BCSA) will be sending a contingent of 22 cueists to participate in the Miri City 9-Ball International Championship 2012 from December 27 to 30.

A total of 63 cueists will be vying for the number one spot including big names in Southeast Asia like Malaysia's Ibrahim Amir, silver medallist in Asian Games 2010; Singapore's Chang Keng Kwang, silver medallist in Asian Indoor Games 2009; Singapore's Aloysius Yapp, World Junior Top 8 2012; and several players from the Philippines, Indonesia and Yemen.

The Brunei team will be headed by head Coach and team manager, Lim Tat Hwe. The 22 players representing Brunei are Ahmad Taufiq bin M Murni, Pg Anak Hj Abd Awadi ZH bin Pg Anak Hj Latifuddin, Mohd Qusyairi bin Zainuddin, Hj Awg Md Alirani bin Hj Awg Besar, Lim Chang Hui, Md Azri Suhardi Hj Md Suni, Willy Wee Kok Ming, Lim Wei Kok, Pg Md Faiq Hafizuddin bin Pg Hj Jalaludin, Md Airwan bin Zakaria, Pg Hj Husairi bin Pg Hj Metusain, Md Alias bin Hj Rashid, Md Safwan bin Yusof, Md Faiz bin Abd Aziz, Gabriel Ian Cheong Boon Heng, Andrew Lo Siong Jiet, Pg Mohd Anis Mamduh Ikmaluddin, Handy Lee Hen Heng, Abdul Aziz, Azizol Hafiz Sepawi, Teo Chee Soon and Md Amran Shah bin Hj Md Isa. Two referees from Brunei Darussalam, Pg Azhar bin Pg Hj Md Salleh and Hj Mohd Ramli bin Hj Jumat, have also been invited to umpire the match.

The tournament, organised and sanctioned by the Sarawak Billiards & Snooker Sports Federation, will be played at the Krokop Snooker Centre for the group stages and the semi-finals and final will be played at Imperial Mall.

"Brunei Darussalam is sending the biggest contingent for the first time and the coach thinks this is a way to support the development of the sport in the region. It is also an exposure for the new players from Brunei as well as from other countries. We help one another in developing this sport," said Awg Musa bin Hj Awg Bagol, President of BCSA.

"We target medals and they are gold in colour. We have young talented players trained by Coach Lim Tat Hwe for more than 10 years. We believe Ahmad Taufiq will be able to perform his best in the tournament. Pg Anal< Hj Abd Awadi is also a potential player to bring back gold and so are many others. I told them they are going as a team even if they play individually. The players must support one another when their teammates are competing." the president added.

The team will depart for Miri City on December 26.

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin