Fong out to win back major title

BSP National Men’s Snooker Titles tournament director Joey Chan, pictured,  says the 2017 edition promises to be a competitive event given last year’s beaten finalist Djorne Fong is determined to reclaim the major title he held for eight  years.
Chan, who will oversee the running of the minor title competition which starts in earnest tomorrow and ends with the final on Sunday (Sept 10), said the race for the major title was really a two-horse race with Fong expected to lock horns with his number one rival and defending champion Marcus Ng.
“Obviously these two (Fong and Ng) are the cream of the crop but we expect Djorne’s cousin Nathan Fong and PNGBSA president Peter Fong to also figure in the later stages of the finals,” Chan said of the major title competition which is from Sept 13-17.
Chan said on radio over the weekend that long-reigning champion Fong (2008 to 2015) had been gutted by his loss to Ng in last year’s final and had been “training the house down” with an eye to reclaiming the mantle of Papua New Guinea’s leading snooker player.
Chan said he and his team were close to finalising the draw for the major title but a briefing for the minor title competitors was scheduled for 5pm today at the Q Club, Lamana Hotel. He said there was also added incentive for the winner of the minor event.
“We are still taking entries for the major event but we are allowing for a 40 player field for both titles.  The winner of the minor gets a free entry into the major titles as part of his first prize winner’s purse”,
“This has been a practice of ours for as long as I remember and it allows them to get a taste of the big time”.
Bank South Pacific, who gave K20,000 to the PNG Snooker and Billiards Association last week, are the event’s major sponsor with naming rights and have been so for the past 14 years, while The National newspaper is a platinum sponsor along with Strickland Real Estate.