KARACHI: Former world amateur snooker champion Mohammad Asif silenced his critics when he came from the jaws of defeat to halt the winning run of local cueist Zulfiqar A Qadir in the fully stretched battle 6-5 and advanced into the final of the National Bank of Pakistan Ranking Snooker Championship on Sunday.

Asif, who is struggling with his form and slipped to seventh national ranking, was in hot water against the new sensation when he bounced back to win the decisive frame and justified his billing at the NBP sports complex on the penultimate day.

He won the battle 13-66, 76-46, 48-77, 39-89, 83-26, 29-60, 87-1, 60-41, 75-7, 64-71, 61-50.

Unseeded Zulfiqar, who is ranked 12th, surprised the followers of the game by staying unbeaten up to reaching the last four. He also gave tough time to the experienced opponent before making exit on the last frame.

Contrary to the first semi-final, the second between the reigning national champion Mohammad Bilal and the sixth seed and former world No 2 Mohammad Sajjad turned out to be one-sided affair as former won 6-2.

Bilal was home 55-44, 72-59, 61-23, 64-50, 0-82, 62-17, 40-70, 71-1.

This is Bilal’s second ranking final of the year and as he whipped Sohail Shehzad 7-5 in the final of the country’s premier snooker championship to land his maiden national title in February.

Results:

Semi-finals:

Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) 6-5 (13-66, 76-46, 48-77, 39-89, 83-26, 29-60, 87-1, 60-41, 75-7, 64-71, 61-50); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 6-2 (55-44, 72-59, 61-23, 64-50, 0-82, 62-17, 40-70, 71-1).

Monday’s fixtures:

Mohammad Asif v Mohammad Bilal (final) best of 15 frames at 10am

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2016