KARACHI: Despite going down fighting to Chinese opponent in the fully stretched battle, Pakistan’s top junior cueist Mohammad Faheem sneaked into knockout last-16 round as his two compatriots made exits in the 16th Asian under-21 Snooker Championship in Beijing on Saturday.

According to results, playing his third and last group H match against Jiaming Liu on Friday evening, Faheem was 2-0 and 3-2 up before squandering the lead. The Chinese who won 13-86, 6-94, 84-58, 113-14, 19-73, 57-33, 74-53 emerged group champion followed by Faheem.

Another Pakistani Abdul Raheem though chalked up his first win while getting the better of Syrian Alhadad Yazan 4-2 (59-33, 46-57, 24-66, 61-47, 55-12, 76-29) but to no avail as he had lost previous two games.

Amir Tariq, the third Pakistani contestant, also met his fate while suffering a 4-0 whitewash at the hands of Hong Kong’s Tam Yun Fung 53-22, 61-46, 78-32, 56-20.

Meanwhile, all the eight Chinese made their mark by stepping into the pre quarter-finals. They were followed by Thailand (3), Hong Kong (2), Pakistan, Iran and Malaysia one apiece.

Results:

Abdul Raheem bt Alhadad Yazan (Syria) 4-2 (59-33, 46-57, 24-66, 61-47, 55-12, 76-29); Jiaming Liu (China) bt Mohammad Faheem 4-3 (13-86, 6-94, 84-58, 113-14, 19-73, 57-33, 74-53); Tam Yun Fung (Hong Kong) bt Amir Tariq 4-0 (53-22, 61-46, 78-32, 56-20).

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2015

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