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KARACHI: Pakistan’s top two guns, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sajjad, did Pakistan proud by taking another step forward in the Jubilee Insurance seven-nation international snooker championship at Pearl Continental Hotel on Wednesday.
Reigning national champion Asif halted the run of Indian maestro Yasin Merchant imposing to 5-3 victory to sneak into last four. While the home players were rejoicing the triumph, his compatriot and former Asian No 2, Mohammad Sajjad, humbled Egypt’s Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed by the same score line of 5-3 to earn his country another spot in semi-finals.
Joining the two home players were reigning world champion, Hossein Vafaei Ayouri of Iran, who blanked Pakistan’s Abdul Sattar 5-0 and Thailand’s No 1 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, who beat fellow Thai Noppon Saengkham in the fully stretched battle 5-4.
Asif, who topped group D, enjoyed an edge over Yasin until 3-all before taking the last two frames to clinch the quarter-final that lasted for some three hours.Asif, who has qualified to represent the country at the next month’s 28th Asian snooker championship at Doha together with national’s runner-up, Sultan Mohammad, was home 61-47, 0-118, 98-20, 33-65, 70-57, 25-74, 64-7, 74-9. He also conjured up a solid break of 82 in the third frame. Yasin had to his credit two breaks of 53 and 70 in the second and sixth frames.
For two-time former Asian champion, Yasin, it was an early set-back as compared to his previous performance in the 23rd Asian championship here when he reached the final and was outplayed by Thai Supoj Saenia 7-0.
Contrary to Asif, two-time former national champion, Sajjad, stormed back into the game from 2-3 down to send his Egyptian opponent packing.
Sajjad hammered an elegant century break of 107 in the sixth frame, his second of the competition, while routing Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed 1-97, 74-34, 54-50, 1-78, 57-70, 107-25, 59-34, 83-28.
“I was a bit shaky in the start but came out of the pressure the moment I conjured up a century break,” the 26-year-old cueist told Dawn soon after the triumph.
Asked about his chances in semi-final tie against world champion Hossein Vafaei Ayouri on Thursday, Sajjad said he had played against him (Hossein) three to four times in Iran, and will not be under any pressure.
Continuing his unbeaten run, Hossein completely outplayed Sattar straight 92-0, 92-12, 72-30, 69-63, 56-30 under two hours.
But the all-Thai encounter between Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Noppon Saengkham kept the spectators on their toes until the last frame with former living up to his credentials.
Un-Nooh, who won 70-64, 0-82, 25-56, 8-91, 80-50, 104-0, 98-9, 55-70, 65-6, meets Asif in the second semi-final.
Meanwhile, IBSF president Pascal Guillaume left here for Paris on Wednesday.
The UAE players also left for Dubai while Bahrain cueists are due to fly on Thursday.
Results: Quarter-finals: Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Iran) bt Abdul Sattar (Pakistan) 5-0 (92-0, 92-12, 72-30, 69-63, 56-30); Mohammad Sajjad (Pakistan) bt Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed (Egypt) 5-3 (1-97, 74-34, 54-50, 1-78, 57-70, 107-25, 59-34, 83-28); Mohammad Asif (Pakistan) bt Yasin Merchant (India) 5-3 (61-47, 0-118, 98-20, 33-65, 70-57, 25-74, 64-7, 74-9); Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) bt Noppon Saengkham (Thailand) 5-4 (70-64, 0-82, 25-56, 8-91, 80-50, 104-0, 98-9, 55-70, 65-6).
Thursday’s fixtures: Semi-finals: Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Iran) v Mohammad Sajjad (Pakistan) at 11am; Mohammad Asif (Pakistan) v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) 3pm.
