KARACHI, June 18: Fancied Saleh Muhammad will face Yousuf Haroon in the final of the Red & White Billiards championship after winning their semifinals Tuesday. The final will be played Saturday at 4.00pm.

Saleh looked in commanding touch while handing out 5-1 defeat to Naveen Perwani while Yousuf Haroon disposed off Imran Shahzad of Punjab 5-2.

Earlier in the morning quarterfinals, Imran Shahzad came from 1-2 down to topple holder Muhammad Hussain 4-2 and Saleh fought back from 1-2 deficit against Muhammad Yousuf to reach semifinal.

The National nine-ball pool championship will start Wednesday.

Results:

Quarterfinals: Imran Shahzad (Punjab) bt Muhammad Hussain (NWFP) 4-2 (50-47, 28-51, 44-51, 50-27, 50-27, 51-40); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt Minhas Malik (Sindh) 4-1 (32-50, 50-43, 50-06, 51-29, 50-07); Yousuf Haroon (Sindh) bt Arifullah (NWFP) 4-0 (51-02, 51- 49, 52-07, 51-13), Saleh Muhammad (NWFP) bt Muhammad Yousuf (Sindh) 4-2 (52-39, 32-53, 07-50, 50-30, 52-40, 51-26).

Semifinals: Yousuf Haroon bt Imran Shahzad 5-2 (50-10, 47-51, 50-48, 19-50, 50-0, 50-04, 50-03); Saleh Muhammad bt Naveen Perwani 5-1 (50-08, 50-40, 43-52, 50-25, 50-14, 51-19).—APP