Magic The Gathering - Malaysia

Another long exhaustive day for 40 players is over, and once again only 8 players remain after surviving 6 long rounds of Swiss play here at Game Vault, Ipoh in the 3rd of 4 PTQ: Kyoto available in the country. It is a very diverse top 8 as veterans and new faces headed for the draft table to draft their decks that would play a major part in the games which will decide who will be the one to take home the return flight ticket to Kyoto and the invite to Pro Tour Kyoto.

Amongst the 8 on the table sits the most successful player in the country, Terry Soh, along with two other players who made back to back PTQ: Kyoto top 8 appearances, Yau Mun Yip and Rick Lee Hup Beng, who are then joined by veterans of the game, Allan Chong Wan Loon, Eddy Ng, Ong Dun Chuan and Sashi Kumar Balakrishnan who is more commonly known as Loco, is joined by a newcomer, Muhd Hazim Mohamad.

Leading off the top 8 after the swiss rounds is Rick Lee Hup Beng, who made back to back PTQ Kyoto top 8s after just reaching the last one last Sunday in Twenty Twenty Bookstore, Penang.


Rick Lee Hup Beng

Also at 16 points is Yau Mun Yip, who also made back to back top 8, after making the finals of the Penang PTQ, conceding for his friend and Game Vault owner and tournament organizer, Wearn Chong.


Yau Mun Yip

The most prolific player in the country with multiple top finishes at Pro Tours, Grand Prix, 2005 Magic Invitational winner and the Malaysia leader of lifetime Pro Points by a wide margin, Terry Soh has not been able to post any significant results as of late but perhaps a flight ticket and invite to PT Kyoto could change all that.


Terry Soh

Right behind the 15-points Terry is Allan Chong Wan Loon at 14 points, a regular at local high level tournaments.


Allan Chong Wan Loon

Alongside him is Eddy Ng at 13 points, another tournament regular.


Eddy Ng

Also at 13 points is Sashi Kumar Balakrishnan, better known as Loco, is another regular and a top 8 appearance is of no surprise to the tournament-going crowd.


Sashi Kumar Balakrishnan (Loco)

Out of 6 12-pointers, only 2 made it to the top 8 and one of them is Ong Dun Chuan, who is a regular at the tournament scene, but has yet to make any breakout performances.


Ong Dun Chuan

And last but not least is Muhd Hazim Mohamad, a new face on the tournament scene who might be on his breakout tournament, out to make a name for himself.


Muhd Hazim Mohamad

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The top 8 single elimination playoffs - random pairings

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Rick Lee Hup Being

vs

Sashi Kumar Balakrishnan

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Terry Soh

vs

Yau Mun Yip

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Eddy Ng

vs

Muhd Hazim Mohamad

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Allan Chong Wan Loon

vs

Ong Dun Chuan

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