Hong Kong pair win IBSF World Men Team Snooker Championship, look ahead to professional careers
- Cheung Ka-wai and Chang Yu-kiu come from behind for a 4-2 victory in the final
- The duo are the first to win the title for the city since Fung Kwok-wai and Lee Chun-wai won the tournament in 2014
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Hong Kong’s Cheung Ka-wai and Chang Yu-kiu won the IBSF World Men Team Snooker Championship, a victory they hope will launch them onto the professional tour.
Sunday’s triumph in Doha ended the city’s nine-year title drought in the competition, with Fung Kwok-wai and Lee Chun-wai’s 2014 win the last time the city took the title.
Cheung and Chang entered the knockout stages unbeaten after beating Austria, England and Bahrain, in the group matches, but then had to come from behind against Ireland, Iran and Poland to reach the final.
Against Michael Georgiou, a former professional player, and Antonis Poullos, of Cyprus, Hong Kong trailed again, before bouncing back to win 4-2.
“I am really happy because we always wanted to form a team and represent Hong Kong at the team event,” said Cheung, who lost 6-1 to host player Ali Alobaidli in the men’s singles final.
“We played together a couple of times already though the results weren’t good but we made it right this time.”
Chang said the “meaningful” victory would serve as a massive confidence boost, and said the pair had needed to “grasp the opportunity to win something”.
“I want to be a pro player for sure and to prove myself in the highest level of snooker in the world,”Chang said. “But until then, I want to perform well and get good results in those Asian and worldwide tournaments I am playing in.”
But the 23-year-old admitted he would need to improve and work on his defensive game if he was to “survive” at a higher level.
The 24-year-old Cheung, who won the IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship in 2015, said he was “satisfied and happy” with their performance.
“I missed out on the Q School [Asia-Oceania] event in June so I hope I can build on this result and improve my shortcomings in the game,” the World Games gold medallist said.
“I need to handle those tight games better and improve my overall game, so that I may play professionally as soon as possible.”
Cheung, together with Chau Hon-man and Wang Yuchen, are still taking part in the IBSF World Six Reds Men Snooker Championship, which concludes in Doha on Wednesday.
Both Cheung and Chang will next turn their attention to a Q Tour event in Brighton next month.
