Rory survives scare to win at Club 21

(l-r) Rory Thor and Mohd Reza

Thunderous applause overwhelmed the venue as Rory Thor shaked Mohd Reza's hand, after a hard fought decider to win Leg 7 Club 21 XZ Snooker Tour and increasing his total tally of wins to 3 for 2011.

Semi finals was played in the earlier session and it was the seniors who were given the boot, as Sam Chong and Patrick Ooi lost to Rory Thor and Mohd Reza respectively. Rory made it look fairly easy as he white washed Sam 4-0 whilst Mohd Reza was made to work really hard before finally winning on the decider.

Both Rory and Reza are no strangers to being in the Final but signs of nervousness could be seen on each player's expression before the match. The crowd was also building up around the Final table even before the match started, as most anticipated a closely fought match.

Mohd Reza grabbed the early lead as the Final started but was soon overtaken as Rory won 2 frames in a row with breaks of 55 and and 58 to lead 2-1. Frame 4 looks to be in Reza's reach with a 48 break but was also quickly denied as Rory made another 69 break to extend the lead to 3-1, needing only one more frame to win the Championship. Feeling something amiss, Reza changed match strategy and managed to level the match at 3-3 without any breaks.

After a quick toilet break, both shaked hands and Reza cued off in the Final frame. After a few safety exchanges, Rory missed an easy Black off the spot, giving Reza a chance back on the table. Reza's turn however was immediately short lived as he missed an easy red to the corner pocket, which Rory immediately pounced on, making his 4th half century break of 76 points in the Final and winning the match slightly after the 12 midnight chimes.

(l-r) Chooi Yew Wah, Club 21 Management Representative,
Moh Keen Hoo and Melvin from Wiraka

Rory Thor wins the Champion's trophy and cash prize of RM 2,500 whilst Mohd Reza wins the Runner up trophy and cash prize of RM 1,000. Highest Break for the Championship goes to Moh Keen Hoo with 132 points, winning himself cash prize of RM 500 and a Atlantis Handmade Cue worth RM 1,100 sponsored by Wiraka.

Below are the results for the Semi Finals and Final.

Semi Finals Results

Rory Thor 4 vs 0 Sam Chong

67-51, 70-28, (66)70-25, 73-50

Mohd Reza 4 vs 3 Patrick Ooi

29-61, 13-58, 64-22, 52-28, 8-63, 60-20, 66-36

Final Result

Rory Thor 4 vs 3 Mohd Reza

30-66, (55)76-35, (58)89-26, (69)69-60(48), 49-64, 5-61, (76)101-0