KUALA LUMPUR: While most athletes in combative sports like mixed martial arts and boxing compete with stage names to strike fear in their opponents, national cueist Lim Kok Leong, too, takes pride in his own.
The 28-year-old has been going around by his nickname 'Kow Kia', which literally means puppy in Hokkien, for the past 10 years.
Right from the humble snooker centre in Butterworth where he first picked up snooker at 7, Kok Leong has potted his way to plenty of successes and won almost everything the world's amateur stage has to offer.
Kok Leong reached the pinnacle of his career in November last year, after creating history as the first Malaysian to win the World Amateur Snooker Championship in Antalya, Turkiye.
This was an addition to the two World Amateur Team titles that he claimed with Moh Keen Hoo - first in Karachi, Pakistan in 2015 before repeating it in Kuala Lumpur in October last year.
Even then, Kok Leong has no intention to rest on his laurels just yet as he sets his sights on more glory when he heads to Cambodia for his fourth Sea Games appearance.
With four gold on offer in snooker, the most ever for the discipline in the Sea Games since the Korat edition in 2007, Kok Leong knows he and his teammates have what it takes to win more than one gold medal this time.
The four events are snooker singles and doubles (15-red) and six-red singles and doubles. Malaysia will be counting on familiar faces, including Keen Hoo and Thor Chuan Leong to deliver the goods.
The trio have won a total of seven gold medals between them.
In Hanoi last year, Kok Leong clinched the six-red singles gold but fell short of landing a grand double after finishing runner-up to Thai legend James Wattana in the snooker singles.
"I'd definitely want to retain the six-red title, but my bigger goal will be to capture the snooker singles gold, where I will enter the fray as the reigning world champion," said Kok Leong, who won the doubles gold with Keen Hoo in Manila 2019.
"The 15-red format, for me, is the more prestigious one because it's an event regularly played worldwide. In fact, it was also contested in every edition of the Sea Games.
"The National Sports Council has set a two-gold target for us, it's a tall order but achievable.
"We will try our best to meet the goal, and individually, I hope to deliver at least one gold medal."
Kok Leong has certainly learned his lesson for failing to handle the pressure well, and he vowed not to let nerves get the better of him.
At the Asian Amateur Championship in Doha last month, Kok Leong was beaten by Chuan Leong in the semi-finals.
"If there's one thing I have learned from Doha, I think it's that I have to manage my own expectation better," said Kok Leong, who joined the national team in 2014.
"After winning the world title last year, I really wanted to complete my collection with the Asian crown.
"So against Chuan Leong, I put unnecessary pressure on myself and paid the price for being too eager to win.
"I have faith in my own ability. As long as I deliver my A-game, I know I can beat anyone."
Growing up idolising English ace Ronnie 'O Sullivan, a seven-time world champion, Kok Leong said he never thought he would make it big time on the international stage.
"I got hooked to snooker not long after picking up the sport at 7. There was a snooker centre located right above my father's mini market in Raja Uda," explained Kok Leong.
"By 10, I was already beating adults. It was not until 15 that I received proper training under former Asian Games gold medallist Ooi Chin Kay, who's also a Penangite.
"At that time, I never had such a big ambition of becoming a world champion. All I ever wanted was just to represent Malaysia.
"I'm so proud of what I have achieved thus far, and I know there's more to come.
"I hope to eventually turn professional and play on the World Snooker Tour.
"Carrying my nickname 'Kow Kia', which is known as far as Hong Kong, I aim to stamp my mark further."