Sabah cueman faces dilemma
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s up-and-coming snooker player Sheldon Senagang was selected to represent Malaysia in the 31st Asian Snooker Championship 2015 in Kuala Lumpur on April 23-30 but he is in a dilemma.
He is excited to go to the nation’s capital but he doesn’t have the monetary resources to do so.
The 21-year-old cueman, who hails from Kota Kinabalu, was selected to represent the country by the Malaysia Snooker and Billiards Federation, the national governing body for cue sports in Malaysia.
“I am naturally very excited and happy that I was selected to represent our country in the prestigious Asian Snooker Championship.
“It is, after all, among the biggest snooker tournaments in our region.
“But I cannot go there because I don’t have the funds,” he said when met here, Wednesday.
He said he had to be resourceful in seeking sponsorship to finance the trip to Kuala Lumpur as well as for his accommodation and meals.
“Sabah is distanced geographically as well as separated by the ocean from Kuala Lumpur and thus players from here need help to go there,” he said.
He said he has very limited time since the championship is only about one week away.
“So, I hope to get some funds from generous people out there to help me achieve my dreams,” said the young champion.
According to him, he tried to get some help from several quarters but was unsuccessful.
He said that he has been training for the past several months and that it would all come to naught if he could not cross the South China Sea.
Senagang, who is currently studying Entrepreneurship at the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), is not a stranger to Sabah snooker as well as in the country since he has represented Malaysia on several occasions in the past.
Among the international competitions that he took part in were the 15th Asean U21 Snooker Championship in Chandigarh, India in 2014, the Mike Yow Memorial Snooker Championship 2013 in Kuala Lumpur and the U16 Hong Kong International Snooker Championship 2010.
His strings of achievements were the The Kinabalu Club (TKC) Snooker Invitation Championships (2010, 2011, 2012), the Kinabalu Golf Club (KGC) Snooker Championship and the Double KGC Snooker Championship in 2012.
He also set a century break in 2012 with 101 points, a feat that very few people have been able to achieve.
With the titles under his belt, Senagang said he is confident of doing the country proud in the Asian snooker championship.
He said it is his wish to become a professional snooker player and compete in all the world’s top snooker championships alongside his idols.
Senagang talent in the cue sports was recognised early by his parents, who have never failed to support him in his endeavour.
His father, Dexter, said he and his wife, Emmeline, said they never stopped Sheldon or his younger brother, Brandon, from playing their favourite sport as they see a bright future ahead for their children in the sport.
“Snooker is a recognised professional sport, just like tennis or golf,” he said.
He said former Minister of Youth and Sports, Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun (now the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment), had once said that snooker or billiards is one sport that Sabahans can excel at the international stage.
Taking cue of Masidi’s wisdom and farsighted vision, he said that he has high hopes that Sheldon would make this a reality.
Source: Daily Express
