June 15, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1428

KARACHI, June 14: With the sole exception of Khurram Agha, the 23rd Asian Snooker Championship is over for Pakistan as the remaining three aspirants were knocked out in pre quarter-finals on Thursday.

Besides Khurram, the quarter-final line-up includes two Chinese (Liu Chuang and Jin Long), two Indians (Yasin Merchant and Alok Kumar), Supoj Saenia of Thailand, UAE’s Mohammad Shehab and Singapore’s Keith E. Boon.

The best-of-nine frames quarter-finals will be played simultaneously at 11.30am on Friday.

However, Thursday turned out to be a bleak day for the Pakistani cueists. The way both veteran Mohammad Yousuf and experienced Saleh Mohammad threw away their matches perturbed the otherwise relaxed top brass of the PBSA.

“Yousuf was already on decline while Saleh was short of match practice,” said Asghar Valika, the PBSA chief, when asked to comment on dismal performance of the home players.

Last year’s runner-up and top seed Mohammad Shehab was in splendid form and didn’t give an inch as he thrashed Yousuf 5-0. He build up three breaks of 44, 60 and 56 in first, fourth and fifth frames in the match he won 66-53, 68-45, 88-61, 68-41 and 66-8.

In the same session, China’s Jin Long, who clinched the Asian title in Thailand two years ago, treated Saleh in a similar fashion and sent him packing 5-1.

Jin who is one of the favourites for the crown, lifted his game to heights which earned admiration from the sizeable crowd. After conceding the opener 40-60, Jin, a slow starter, hammered break after break to claim the remaining frames 79-25, 89-6, 68-7, 74-8 and 62-38.

Saleh, who has staged a comeback on the circuit after a long layoff, was at the receiving end as his scores suggested.

Naveen Perwani, however, fought tooth and nail against Singapore’s Keith E. Boon before going down 4-5 in a fully-extended battle.

After losing the opening two frames, he made a comeback to surge 4-2 ahead and never recovered after losing his rhythm. Final scores in favour of Boon were: 56-34, 61-52, 55-65, 64-68, 15-52, 1-65, 73-46, 65-22 and 72-3.

Third seed Supoj Saenia kept Thailand’s chances alive when he got the better of Bahrain’s Habib Sabah 5-4 in a nail-biting finish.

The Thai also earned distinction of scoring highest break of 109, the third century break of the tournament, in seventh frame. He was home 29-47, 69-29, 55-65, 62-70, 74-8, 75-40, 110-11, 42-73 and 76-34.

Khurram Agha, the former Pakistan No 1, put his act together to overcome UAE’s Mohammad Al Joakar in an exciting 5-4 finish. The scores being 22-62, 59-51, 67-36, 39-55, 64-62, 15-73, 8-70, 95-1 and 59-51.

Khurram is drawn to meet former Asian champion Alok Kumar, who made his way into last eight defeating Hong Kong’s Chan Hon Kwan by five frames to four. Final scores were 84-15, 87-1, 53-55, 28-58, 84-54, 51-72, 79-32, 41-68 and 64-28.

In the two other matches, Yasin Merchant, the two-time former Asian champion, whipped Qatar’s Mohsn A. Aziz 5-2 (46-66, 57-34, 60-55, 61-78, 63-22, 68-46 and 108-1) to meet China’s Liu Chuang who downed Hong Kong’s Chan Kwok Ming 5-0 (96-5, 73-28, 83-34, 68-26 and 66-21).

Results:

Pre quarter-finals: Liu Chuang (China) bt Chan Kwok Ming (Hong Kong) 5-0 (96-5, 73-28, 83-34, 68-26, 66-21); Yasin Merchant (India) bt Mohsn A. Aziz (Qatar) 5-2 (46-66, 57-34, 60-55, 61-78, 63-22, 68-46, 108-1); Khurram Agha (Pakistan) bt Mohammad Al Joakar (UAE) 5-4 (22-62, 59-51, 67-36, 39-55, 64-62, 15-73, 8-70, 95-1, 59-51); Alok Kumar (India) bt Chan Hon Kwan (Hong Kong) 5-4 (84-15, 87-1, 53-55, 28-58, 84-54, 51-72, 79-32, 41-68, 64-28); Jin Long (China) bt Saleh Mohammad (Pakistan) 5-1 (40-60, 79-25, 89-6, 68-7, 74-8, 62-38); Supoj Saenia (Thailand) bt Habib Sabah (Bahrain) 5-4 (29-47, 69-29, 55-65, 62-70, 74-8, 75-40, 110-11, 42-73, 76-34); Mohammad Shehab (UAE) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan) 5-0 (66-53, 68-45, 88-61, 68-41, 66-8); Keith E. Boon (Singapore) bt Naveen Perwani 5-4 (56-34, 61-52, 55-65, 64-68, 15-52, 1-65, 73-46, 65-22, 72-3).

Friday’s fixtures:

Quarter-finals: Liu Chuang (China) v Yasin Merchant (India); Khurram Agha (Pakistan) v Alok Kumar (India); Jin Long (China) v Keith E. Boon (Singapore); Supoj Saenia (Thailand) v Mohammad Shehab (UAE), all matches starting at 11.30am.