KARACHI: The Pakistani trio had mixed fortunes in the second leg of the IBSF-ACBS 10-Reds Asian Tour which commenced in Jinan, China, on Sunday.
According to results made available here, former national champion Mohammad Bilal, who scaled new heights by winning the preceding first leg at Doha recently, got off to a brisk start registering straight 4-0 victory over Qatar’s Aliobaidli (52-9, 73-11, 77-25, 55-0). The triumph includes two breaks of 50 and 48 in the third and fourth frames.
However, Chinese Yang Ziaxin halted Bilal’s winning run posting 4-2 victory the scores being 49-35, 72-0, 55-38, 39-46, 7-45, 52-22.
Similarly, Asian under-21 runner-up Haris Tahir went down to Chinese Peng Yisong in the fully stretched battle (87-12, 60-4, 38-50, 31-68, 54-57, 57-29, 46-27) in his opening fixture. He, however, overcome Iran’s Ehsan Heydari in similar fashion (23-53, 1-44, 62-31, 38-50, 54-0, 58-47, 64-1) to stay in contention for a place in the knockout round.
Pakistan No 1 Babar Masih had a dismal start as he lost 1-4 to Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh who won 65-24, 67-28, 21-70, 91-1, 52-9. Babar plays his second match against Chinese Si Jiahui on Monday.
As many as 24 cueists including nine Chinese are competing in the event. They have been divided into eight groups and top two will propel in the last-16 after group matches.
Originally, China was supposed to field four cueists — two based on IBSF-ACBS rankings and as many as hosts. However, they were allowed to enter five more cueists at the expense of selected players who failed to travel to China.
Results:
Mohammad Bilal bt Alobaidli (Qatar) 4-0 (52-9, 73-11, 77-25, 55-0); Peng Yisong (China) bt Haris Tahir 4-3 (87-12, 60-4, 38-50, 31-68, 54-57, 57-29, 46-27); Yang Ziaxin (China) bt Mohammad Bilal 4-2 (49-35, 72-0, 55-38, 39-46, 7-45, 52-22); Amir Sarkhosh (Iran) bt Babar Masih 4-1 (65-24, 67-28, 21-70, 91-1, 52-9); Haris Tahir bt Ehsan Heydari Nezhad (Iran) 4-3 (23-53, 1-44, 62-31, 38-50, 54-0, 58-47, 64-1).
Published in Dawn, October 29th , 2018
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