ISLAMABAD: Naseem Akhtar and Shaikh Mohammad Mudassir reached the Jubilee Insurance National U-18 Snooker Championship final here at the Pakistan Sports Complex on Monday.

Punjab’s Naseem — the former world U-18 champion — while outclassing another player form Punjab Ahsan Yousuf exhibited brilliant skills. His victory was decorated with a break of 77 as he comfortably won the semi-final 4-2 (80-25, 53-56, 79-30(77), 52-60, 62-40, 58-25).

In the other semi-final, Punjab’s Mudassir overcame Shehryar Khan of Sindh 4-2 (9-67, 59-49, 55-40, 18-67, 76-45, 58-28).

Earlier in the quarter-final, Naseem outclassed reigning champion Umer Khan 4-1. A close battle was expected between the two top players but Naseem, except for the second frame, dominated the proceedings to clinch the match 69-42, 28-58, 70-09, 68-57, 70-46.

Ahsan Yousuf of Punjab won a close quarter-final against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kamran Albert Masih 4-3 (5-62, 30-76, 68-04, 65-15, 31-70, 86-02, 63-23) while Mudassir overwhelmed Punjab’s Hamza Ilyas 4-2 (62-0, 55-65, 16-60, 54-37, 82-58, 64-21). Shehryar in his last-eight match defeated Punjab’s Shahzaib Malik 4-2 (9-67, 59-49, 55-40, 18-67, 76-45, 58-28).

The final will be played on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2019