KARACHI: The defending champion pair of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sajjad maintained their unbeaten run by brushing aside Libya 3 5-0 in their last group fixture to sneak into the last 32 knockout round of the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) team snooker championship in Sharm-el-Sheikh on Tuesday evening.

The Asif-Sajjad duo, who won the team title at Carlow, Ireland, last year, emerged group J champions winning all four league matches in style. They were impressive while registering 76-5, 89-7, 64-11, 84-17, 74-34 victory over Libya 3.

The victorious Pakistan pair is slated to meet Australia in the knockout round on Thursday.

As far as IBSF 6-Reds snooker championship is concerned, cueists who have topped their groups have advanced into last-64 round whereas those who have secured second and third places in groups have propelled into last 96 round.

Former world amateur snooker cham­pion Asif, who finished runner-up in his group, takes on Egypt’s Mostafa Gebaly on Thursday morning.

Group M champion Sajjad faces winner of Australia-UAE match of L-96 round on Thursday.

Result: Pakistan bt Libya 3 5-0 (76-5, 89-7, 64-11, 84-17, 74-34).

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2014