KARACHI: Pakistan’s top junior cueists — Mohammad Naseem Akhtar and Haris Tahir — sneaked into the knockout pre quarter-finals of the IBSF World U-18 Snooker Championship in Beijing, China, on Sunday.

Naseem, who held the national under-18 and under-21 titles under his belt, sent Irish Darragh Cusack packing straight 68-17, 66-27, 61-17 to complete his group engagements and propel into the last-24 round.

Compatriot Haris also joined him when he got the better of Russian Kirill Petrov 3-1 the scores being 7-66, 56-17, 85-16, 61-50.

Naseem continued his winning spree when he blanked Chinese Fuyi Deng 83-14, 58-54, 74-66 to cruise into last-16 where he faces Haris in the best of seven frames match on Monday.

Results:

Mohammad Naseem Akhtar bt Darragh Cusack (Ireland) 3-0 (68-17, 66-27, 61-17); Haris Tahir bt Kirill Petrov (Russia) 3-1 (7-66, 56-17, 85-16, 61-50).

Last 24-round: Mohammad Naseem Akhtar bt Fuyi Deng (China) 3-0 (83-14, 58-54, 74-66).

Monday’s fixtures:

Mohammad Naseem Akhtar v Haris Tahir pre quarter-final (best of seven frames).

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2017