Champ up for defence

By MELTON PAIS
REIGNING men’s national snooker champion Marcus Ng may not have had the ideal preparation for the BSP Snooker Titles, which cue off on Spetember 11 in Port Moresby, but is confident he can defend the title.
Ng is among a small group of the country’s top players who will match skills and tactics for a chance to be crowned the 2018 champion and earn a piece of the K20,000 prize pool.
During the launch of BSP Men’s and Women’s PNG National Snooker Titles, Ng said he would use the next four weeks to get his game back up to the level that won him the title last year.
Ng is a two-time champion and is expected to advance to finals stage of the tournament.
He said he needed to get in more table time in the lead-up to the nationals as he was sure the other competitors would be doing as well.
“I haven’t played well for the last couple of months mainly due to lack of practice so now, I have to put more time and effort in my sessions,” Ng said.
“From now until the tournament there is sufficient time for me to get ready.”
Ng said the level of competition was improving every year and he expected more players to be better, making his job harder.
“I think this national titles will be very competitive and I’ll have to give my best to defend the title,” he said.
Ng added he would be using a new cue during the tournament so he would have to get used to it.
“I’ve got a new cue for the national titles so I have to get used to it.”
Ng said it was good to see more young people taking up the game and he hoped those taking part in the national titles gained from the experience and kept working on their technique and mental game.
He thanked The National and Strickland Real Estate, who are the event’s platinum sponsors as well as BSP, who gave K40,000 to the tournament on Wednesday, Lamana Hotel and Nambawan Trophy Haus for making the event possible.