KARACHI, Jan 31: Arch rivals Saleh Mohammad and Mohammad Yousuf booked a berth for themselves in the final, when they brushed aside their respective opponents in the 28th Red & White National Snooker Championship semifinals, played on Friday at the KPT Sports Complex.

Third seed Saleh accounted for the defending champion and No.6 seed Farhan Mirza 6-2, while Yousuf had an easier time in demolishing the top seed Khurram Hussain Agha 6-0.

With their magnificent displays on Friday, Pakistan’s two most celebrated cueists former world and Asian amateur champion Mohammad Yousuf and former world No.3 Saleh Mohammad are by far, head and shoulders ahead of the field in the snooker circles.

Saleh began his campaign for a final berth by picking up the first two frames from Farhan, helped on with a break of 40 in the second frame.

The bespectacled cueist from Lahore managed to pull one back by grabbing the third frame 55/38.

However, with two more breaks of 33 and 34, in the next two frames, Saleh forged ahead 4-1 which soon increased to 5-1, only a frame away from victory.

Aware that he was sinking fast Farhan threw caution to the wind, which enabled him come through with a fluent break of 53, to race ahead 60/38 with four coloured balls on the table.

To add insult to injury, Saleh potted all four balls in his next visit to the table to tie the seventh frame score 60/60.

The black ball was now to decide the issue and after a few tries to sink the black by both cueists, it was Farhan who potted black in the top hand pocket to cut down the deficit 2-5.

Rather amused with the proceedings, Farhan took the early lead again. But Saleh brimming with confidence soon collared him and never looking back forced Farhan to surrender the frame and match 61/12.

On the other table, Yousuf with a stamp of a world champion chalked up a break of 61 and followed it up with 31 points on the trot, to sound out a stern warning who was going to be incharge of the proceedings.

Khurram getting into his strides, had a great chance to level the scores 1-1, leading comfortably in the second.

However, Yousuf like a dedicated craftsman snookered Khurram on the green ball behind the pink. Yousuf won the frame 65/57 and was soon 2-0 ahead.

Continuing to dominate the proceedings Yousuf won the next two frames easily to increase his winning margin 4-0.

Closing in for the kill the former world champion registered a handsome break of 51, but had a pleasant surprise when Khurram, cheered on by the vast gathering replied with a stunning break of 56.

But even this achievement was not enough to help the top seed win the frame.

Leading 61/50 in the fifth frame Khurram missed an easy green in the sixth pocket. Yousuf pocketed the green, brown, blue and pink balls and was ahead 5-0, only a frame away from the finals.

Khurram in a last desperate effort tried his level best to at least pick up a frame.

Sadly the balls on the table did not favour him and Yousuf displaying his immense talent came through a 6-0 winner and was lustily cheered by the snooker fans.

Although soundly beaten, Khurram still held on to his No.1 spot in the ranking circuit, a position he has held for the last 18 months although he has yet to win a ranking snooker tournament.

Due to the new ranking system introduced nearly two years ago, Khurram has remained on top in the ladder due to the higher points he has collected from the ranking tournaments.

The final will be played on Saturday afternoon from 12.00 noon in the best of 15 frames.

Saleh and Yousuf will not only being going all out to win the cherished trophy respectively, but to even improve their current ranking positions in the circuit.

Following were the semifinal results:

Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) beat Farhan Mirza (Punjab) 6-2: 74/25, 62/50, 38/55, 64/21, 79/13, 66/28, 60/67, 61/12.

Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) beat Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) 6-0: 91/1, 65/57, 60/5, 63/35, 72/61, 68/45.