KARACHI: National junior champion Mohammad Naseem Akhtar did Paki­stan proud when he brushed aside China’s Peifan Lei 5-3 in the epic final to win the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World U-18 Snooker Champ­ionship in Beijing on Tuesday.

Naseem had defeated three Chinese players, who were considered dangerous, on their home soil on way to scaling new heights.

He fought back remarkably from 1-3 down to post an incredible victory over his opponent. The scores being 20-62, 69-68, 37-71, 19-57, 127-6, 85-40, 61-37, 74-8.

He piled up a half century break of 56 in the fifth frame after his opponent had smashed 50 in the first frame.

Naseem has become the first Pakistani cueist to land the world U-18 title. His sudden rise to the top is a true indicator that there’s no dearth of talent in the country.

After his success, he starts as favourite to win the world U-21 title as well and complete a double. The U-21 competition is set to start on Wednesday.

In the preceding semi-final, Naseem had demolished Israel’s Amir Nardela straight 4-0 (74-19, 82-0, 90-21, 89-42 to set a title clash with Peifan Lei who accounted for compatriot Junjie Bo 4-2 (70-42, 29-57, 23-72, 43-40, 76-13, 65-60) in the other semi-final.

Earlier, he continued his winning spree by getting the better of fellow countryman and national U-21 runner-up Haris Tahir 4-1 in the pre quarters (72-16, 7-67, 91-37, 69-45, 63-24) and then sent Austrian Florian Nuble packing 4-1 (62-67, 74-7, 86-29, 74-8, 72-21) in the quarters on Monday.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) officials have hailed Naseem Akhtar’s victory over the Chinese in the world U-18 snooker event.

“Naseem’s victory over the Chinese is highly commendable as they (Chinese) are considered one of the top nations in the baize game,” chairman of the PBSF Asghar Valika told Dawn.

“With little exposure under his belt, Naseem showed great match temperament by fighting back from 1-3 down to turn the tables on his opponent,” he maintained.

He demanded of the government to acknowledge the feat and financially reward Naseem so that he can bring more laurels in future.

It may be mentioned that most of the snooker players come from a poor financial bacground and needs to be supported by the government.

Terming Naseem’s performance “wonderful”, co-chairman of the PBSF Alamgir Shaikh said the cueist played up to his true potential.

This is Naseem’s second international appearance after Asian U-21 at Chandigarh earlier this year and he made his mark in a short span of time, he added.

Expressing ‘satisfaction’ he said the PBSF is producing both senior and junior cueists besides arranging coaching sessions under the supervision of world champion Soheil Vahedi.

He called upon Inter-provi­ncial Coordination Min­ister Riaz Hussain Pirz­ada and the director general of the PSB to lend financial support to the cueists.

Results:

Final:

Mohammad Naseem Akhtar bt Peifan Lei (China) 5-3 (20-62, 69-68, 37-71, 19-57, 127-6, 85-40, 61-37, 74-8).

Semi-finals:

Mohammad Naseem Akhtar bt Amir Nardela (Israel) 4-0 (74-19, 82-0, 90-21, 89-42); Peifan Lei (China) bt Junjie Bo (China) 4-2 (70-42, 29-57, 23-72, 43-40, 76-13, 65-60).

Monday’s results:

Quarter-final:

Mohammad Naseem Akhtar bt Florian Nuble (Austria) 4-1 (62-67, 74-7, 86-29, 74-8, 72-21).

Pre quarter-finals:

Mohammad Naseem Akhtar bt Haris Tahir 4-1 (72-16, 7-67, 91-37, 69-45, 63-24).

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2017