KARACHI, April 7: Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham won the 14th Asian under-21 snooker championship by getting the better of Pakistan’s Mohammad Majid Ali in the fully stretched final 6-5 in the Indian city of Indore on Sunday.
According to results available here, Majid, who scaled new heights by becoming first-ever Pakistani to reach the Asian juniors final, lost the decisive frame on pink ball after leading 2-0, 3-2, 4-3, and level at 5-5.
The Thai was home 62-63, 12-92, 91-1, 76-63, 24-73, 64-48, 37-85, 74-8, 112-15, 24-72, 63-46 in the marathon final.
Earlier, Majid brushed aside last year’s runner-up Chinese Zhu Yinghjui 5-1 to reach the final and enter his name in the annals of the game. Majid, making his second appearance in the Asian under-21 meet, conceded fourth frame while registering an emphatic 69-39, 60-48, 92-34, 0-101, 68-48, 76-36 victory over the Chinese opponent.
This was Majid’s second victory over the Chinese cueists in a day the first being against Lu Ning in the quarter-final.
Pakistan snooker team is due to arrive from Mumbai by PK 275 on Monday. National champion Hamza Akbar was the other cueist who made his exit in the pre quarter-final. Former world amateur snooker champion Mohammad Yousuf accompanied the team as manager-cum-coach.
Results: Final: Noppon SaengKham (Thailand) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Pakistan) 6-5 (62-63, 12-92, 91-1, 76-63, 24-73, 64-48, 37-85, 74-8, 112-15, 24-72, 63-46).
Semi-final: Mohammad Majid Ali (Pakistan) bt Zhu Yinghui (China) 5-1 (69-39, 60-48, 92-34, 0-101, 68-48, 76-36).
