KARACHI: Experience finally prevailed as former world amateur champion Mohammad Asif coasted to 8-5 victory over Zulfiqar A. Qadir in the final of the Jubilee Insurance third ranking snooker championship to land his first domestic title of the year at Karachi Gymkhana on Friday.

While doing so the snooker celebrity also notched up two splendid breaks of 101 and 143 in the fifth and 10th frames.

Interestingly, both the cueists were from group ‘D’ and Asif had won the league match against Qadir 4-2 that also included a sterling break of 141 in the sixth frame on the opening day.

The 143 break on Friday is perhaps a record in any national ranking event.

It took Asif nearly six hours including a 30-minute break to register 47-80, 64-47, 71-58, 9-71, 101-5, 54-45, 45-52, 76-74, 57-10, 143-0, 10-61, 41-72, 62-51 victory over his opponent in the best of 15 frames duel.

The triumph also helped Asif leap seven places and attain second place in the national ranking chart behind top player Asjad Iqbal, who despite losing the semi-final, retained his slot.

By virtue of No 1 and 2, both Asif and Asjad have qualified for the next month’s IBSF World Snooker Championship being held at Doha.

Reigning junior world champion Mohammad Naseem Akhtar had already received a wildcard entry for the event.

The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) will announce the name of one more cueist and three master’s (over 40) for Doha.

Though Sindh has a rich history of producing many great snooker players in the yore, it is after a long time that its cueist has made it to the final of a ranking event.

“I‘d five meetings with Asif including today’s final and the latter enjoy slender 3-2 lead,” the 31-year-old Qadir told Dawn.

Qadir, an employee at a snooker parlour having finished runner-up in Sindh Cup thrice in 2014, 2015 and 2016, said he has jumped 11 places from 17th to sixth, the same ranking he had last year also.

The local player said a silly miss of brown ball in the 13th frame had cost him the frame and the match.

At the outset, Qadir had a solid start taking the first frame but Asif surged 2-1 only to lose the fourth as the former drew level. Asif again won back-to-back frames to earn 4-2 lead while Qadir again reduced deficit 3-4 grabbing the seventh frame.

Again Asif roared back and enhanced the lead to 7-3 winning the eighth, ninth and 10th frames.

Needing just one frame to wrap up, Asif conceded two frames as Qadir didin’t allow his opponent to have an upper hand in the 11th and 12th frames..

Finally, Asif took advantage of Qadir’s lapse and clinched the 13th frame.

Asif received a purse of Rs70,000 and winner’s trophy while Qadir earned Rs40,000 and runner-up trophy from the chief guest Tahir Ahmed, Managing Director of Jubilee General Insurance at the presentation that followed the final.

Asif also received highest break award of Rs5,000. Cash prizes of Rs165,000 were disbursed among the cueists.

The PBSF hierarchy including Munawwar Hussain Shaikh, Zulfiqar Ramzi, Alamgir Shakh and the Karachi Gymkhana president Fawad Malik were also in attendance.

Final result: Mohammad Asif (Punjab) Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) 8-5 (47-80, 64-47, 71-58, 9-71, 101-5, 54-45, 45-52, 76-74, 57-10, 143-0, 10-61, 41-72, 62-51).

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2017