KARACHI: Defending champion Pakistan thrashed low-profile Jordan 5-0 in the opening group J fixture of International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) team snooker championship at Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Thursday evening.

The pair of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sajjad, who reached the zenith in the event at Carlow, Ireland, last year, didn’t allow any room to Jordan while imposing 84-11, 107-0, 67-15, 72-26, 65-25 victory.

According to draws, Pakistan is drawn with four other teams namely Jordan, Libya 3, Egypt 8 and England in the group.

As many as 64 teams representing 30 nations are competing in the team event. Hosts Egypt has fielded highest number of 13 teams, followed by Libya and India five apiece.

Pakistan is slated to meet England in the second match on Sunday.

Meanwhile, former Asian No 2 Sajjad on Friday thrashed Poland’s Mariusz Sikorski 43-13, 59-15, 39-19, 48-28 to register his second straight victory in IBSF 6-Reds snooker championship which is taking place concurrently.

Results:

Team event:

Pakistan bt Jordan 5-0 (84-11, 107-0, 67-15, 72-26, 65-25).

6-Reds:

Mohammad Sajjad (Pakistan) bt Mariusz Sikorski (Poland) 4-0 (43-13, 59-15, 39-19, 48-28).

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2014