KARACHI: Mohammad Asif’s brilliant form was on full display on Saturday as he played a maximum break of 147 to defeat Ali Raza of Sindh 4-2 in the 49th National Snooker Championship here at the NBP Sports Complex.
The 44-year-old Asif, who recently won the Saarc title, maintained his unbeaten run in the championship, winning 4-1 (54-21, 98-0, 147-0, 17-90, 87-16).
Asif was already two-frame up when he stitched the maximum break of 147 in the third. Despite the massive break, Ali clawed a frame back but Asif wrapped the victory shortly.
Umair Khan of Sindh caused a major upset in another match, defeating current Sindh champion and former Asian team champion Zulfiqar A. Qadir 4-1 (77-11, 36-62, 62-39, 55-24, 54-31).
Sindh’s Ian Mark John stretched his winning run with a narrow 4-3 (69-40, 60-36, 60-64, 14-58, 42-57, 66-04, 76-44) win over Abdullah.
Abdul Sattar of Sindh also had a good outing, defeating Ibrahim Khan of Balochistan 4-0 with two century breaks of 101 and 141.
Several other players from Punjab dominated on Saturday. Waseem Abbas and Babar Masih registered thumping 4-1 victories over Sindh cueists Umair Alam and Khizar Aziz, respectively.
In two all-Punjab clashes, Ahsan Javaid crushed Mohammad Nazeer 4-1 and Zubair Tahir whitewashed Mohammad Faheem 4-0. Umair Haider was also among the victors as he downed Shahid Saleem, hailing from, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 4-0.
Players from Balochistan also had a good day, with Bahadur Khan beating Mohammad Hasnain, the U-21 Asian champion, 4-3 in a seesaw match while Adil A. Jabbar overpowered Malik Muzammil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4-1.
Jahanzaib Jahangir emerged victorious against KP’s Umair Sodagar 4-1 and S. M. Muneeb Ali edged past Islamabad’s Sheikh Mohammad Muzammil 4-3.
In Saturday’s other match, Suleman Khan of KP beat Sindh’s Ayaan Ali 4-3.
Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2025
