Fadhli Ishak
UNABLE to make a living in Malaysia, the country’s No 1 snooker player Moh Keen Hoo has to move elsewhere.
He ended up playing in the eight-ball pool professional circuit in China.
Keen Hoo may be playing far away but his heart is never far from national duty.
When Malaysia needed him for his seventh Sea Games, Keen Hoo came running to the Philippines recently.
And he delivered too. Keen Hoo won a gold and a silver for Malaysia in the men’s doubles and singles respectively in Manila.
Keen Hoo teamed up with Lim Kok Leong to beat Filipino pair Barbelo Alvin-Rosa Jefrey in the men’s doubles final. In the singles, he finished runner-up to Thailand’s Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn.
Keen Hoo said he “came back” for the Sea Games because Malaysian Snooker and Billiards Federation president Melvin Chia said there was “nobody available”.
For now, the cueist said he is happy to continue his career in China due to the lucrative prize money there.
Keen Hoo, 33, who has also represented Malaysia in the 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015 and 2017 Sea Games, said: “I came (temporarily) back to Malaysia (from China) because Melvin Chia said there was nobody available to play in the Sea Games.
“It’s not easy for me to survive as a player in Malaysia. I have been there (China) for three months. My long term plan is to stay there because the prize money is good.
“The prize money is around RM100,000 to RM200,000 per tournament. If I ‘chin chai’ (simply) win one tournament, I can survive for a year.”
Keen Hoo, who made his Sea Games debut as a 17-year-old in Hanoi, 2003, has experienced many ups and downs in his career.
With government funding for the sport being close to non-existent over the past two years, Keen Hoo and many other national players have been forced to fend for themselves.