KARACHI: Junior international Mohammad Saqib prevented Haris Tahir from completing back-to-back double when he came back from the verge of defeat to inflict a 6-5 frames defeat in the final to win the Jubilee Insurance eighth national under-21 snooker championship at a local hotel on Wednesday.

Saqib, who together with last year’s runner-up Abdul Raheem represented the country at the inaugural IBSF under-18 snooker championship last year, recovered from 3-5 down to post 29-56, 19-76, 88-43, 36-51, 71-39, 20-71, 62-29, 36-76, 113-24, 68-19, 67-26 victory over his opponent in the all-Punjab gruelling final that went to full distance.

Saqib had overcome Raheem 5-4 while Tahir halted the winning run of top seed Abdul Javaid imposing to 5-3 victory in the two semi-finals the other day.

Tahir, who was in best form and on course to set history had he win the title, started on positive note taking 2-0, 3-1 and 5-3 lead only to see Saqib storming back with vigour and taking the next three frames in a row to seal the fate.

Both the finalists have qualified to represent the country in the Asian and world under-21 championships being held at Sri Lanka and Belgium respectively later this year.

Tahir earned consolation of scoring highest century break of 106 in the event for which he was duly rewarded Rs5,000 in addition to the runner-up purse of Rs25,000.

Saqib picked up the winners cheque of Rs50,000 and a trophy from the chief guest Tahir Ahmed at the prize distribution ceremony that followed the final. The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) president Alamgir Shaikh was also present.

Cash prizes of Rs1,30,000 were disbursed among the players.

Final results:

Mohammad Saqib (Punjab) bt Haris Tahir (Punjab) 6-5 (29-56, 19-76, 88-43, 36-51, 71-39, 20-71, 62-29, 36-76, 113-24, 68-19, 67-26).

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2016