KARACHI: India 2 stormed back from the jaws of defeat to whip Pakistan 1 by 3-2 in the well fought final to win the inaugural IBSF-ACBS World Team Championship at Doha on Friday evening.

According to the results made available here, India 2 (Pankaj Advani, Manan Chandra) coasted to 24-73, 56-61, 72-47, 106-20, 56-20 victory over Pakistan 1 (Mohammad Asif, Babar Masih) in the action-packed final to add another feather to their cap.

It is pertinent to mention that Advani is the reigning IBSF world champion. He had outplayed Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh 8-2 in the final at the same venue last year to claim his third world snooker title and overall 18th world title.

Having lost the first two frames and trailing by 30 points in the doubles, the celebrated Indian pair completely changed the scenario to the sheer surprise of sizeable crowd at the Qatar Federation snooker hall.

The Pakistan duo, who did the country proud by capturing the IBSF world team title at Hurghada, Egypt, last year, was on song as they seized 2-0 lead in the title clash.

Babar put Pakistan in front by taking first frame against Manan 73-24 while former world champion Asif doubled the lead by getting the better of Advani 61-56 in the next frame.

The Pakistan duo had full control in the doubles and they were about to seal straight victory when a miscalculated shot by Babar provided lifeline to Manan who helped India win 72-47 to reduce the deficit.

Making amends of the earlier loss, Advani piled up a splendid break of 69 against Babar to win the fourth frame 106-20 taking the teams to decider.

Manan completed the rout by prevailing over Asif 56-20 in the fifth and last frame.

India received a winning purse of US$ 15,000 while Pakistan earned US$ 7,000.

Meanwhile, honorary life chairman of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) Asghar Valika has hailed Asif and Babar’s performance.

Result:

Final: India 2 bt Pakistan1 3-2 (24-73, 56-61, 72-47, 106-20, 56-20).

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2018