KARACHI, May 28: Pakistan’ top cueist and national champion Mohammad Asif and a former junior champion Asjad Iqbal, both from Punjab, stormed into the final of the fourth NBP ranking snooker championship overcoming their opponents in the marathon semi-finals at DA Creek Club on Monday.

Asif took some five hours to prevail over promising junior international Mohammad Majid 6-4 the scores being 113-8, 55-47, 40-80, 60-62, 91-20, 0-95, 81-39, 70-61, 67-79, 69-56 while Asjad brushed aside the challenge from wildcard Shehram Changezi by the identical scoreline of 6-4 in some six hours. The former won the battle 50-53, 74-6, 52-45, 26-73, 69-58, 85-46, 33-70, 69-34, 30-66, 61-54.

Curtain falls on the championship on Tuesday when Asif meets Asjad in the best of 13 frames final which starts at 9am.

Two-time national champion Asif had an upper hand over his inexperienced opponent taking 2-0 and 3-2 lead but Majid showed no signs of nervousness and recovered twice to even the score three-all. Asif again surged picking the seventh and eighth frames before conceding the ninth. Finally Asif won the tenth frame to seal the fate.

Asjad, who finished runner-up to Mohammad Sajjad in the 2010 national championship, produced awesome performance by against Shehram, who has recently returned home after featuring in professional qualifying events in England for four months.

After losing the opener 50-53, Asjad got his act together capturing the following two frames 74-6, 62-45 only to lose the fourth 26-73. He again enhanced his lead 4-2 by grabbing the fifth and sixth frames 69-58, 85-46 but Shehram again narrowed the lead 3-4. Asjad went ahead 69-34 and again lost the ninth before wraping up the match taking the tenth 61-64.

Results: Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid (Punjab) 6-4 (113-8, 55-47, 40-80, 60-62, 91-20, 0-95, 81-39, 70-61, 67-79, 69-56); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Shehram Changezi (Islamabad) 6-4 (50-53, 74-6, 52-45, 26-73, 69-58, 85-46, 33-70, 69-34, 30-66, 61-54).

Tuesday’s fixtures: Final (best of 15 frames): 9 am Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Asjad Iqbal (Punjab).