Ahmad Taufiq Murni just kept the momentum going all the way till the end.
The national cueist was crowned the champion of the Labuan 9-Ball International Championship Open 2013 after defeating Sabah's Frankie Kok 11-8 in the final.
The Sultanate's top player had defeated Vincent Lim of Labuan 9-2 in the quarter-finals before dispatching Sabah's Rashid Samy 9-5 in the semi-finals to set up the matchup at David's Pool in Labuan.
It was a neck-and-neck battle with both exchanging racks till the scoreboards read 6-6.
Taufiq managed to give himself some breathing room and claimed the next three frames to open up a 9-6 lead.
However, Taufiq would miss the three-ball in the 16th frame to allow Kok to clear the table.
The latter managed to close in to 9-8 after Taufiq missed-pot on the one-ball in the next rack.
The Bruneian would then take a timeout to regroup.
It was Kok's turn to break in the 18th frame but he missed on the six-ball.
Taufiq made full use of the opportunity to give himself a 10-8 cushion.
The 24-year-old then claimed victory after breaking clear in the 19th frame.
"I needed to take the timeout because I was out of rhythm already allowing Frankie to get back into the game. I made myself refocus on the game and it worked," said Taufiq in an interview with The Brunei Times after the triumph.
"I had good wins in the quarter and semi-finals. It helped me carry the momentum over to the final," he added.
"The final was a bit difficult to play because a new set of balls was used and it was quite slippery resulting in missing some shots," continued Taufiq, who is ranked 38th in the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU) rankings after finishing fifth out of 48 players at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games in South Korea earlier this month.
Taufiq walked away with a cash prize of RM2,000 and a trophy while Kok had to settle for RM1,000 and a trophy.
A total of 10 Bruneians under the Brunei Cue Sports Association (BCSA) saw action at the July 9-12 tournament.
Next on the calendar for the sport will be the 5th Golden Break 9-Ball Invitational Championship 2013 to be held in Kuala Lumpur next month.
