KARACHI: Pakistan trio of Babar Masih, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Bilal cruised into the knockout round of the Asian 6-Reds snooker championship as compatriot Mohammad Majid Ali waited for the completion of group matches in Doha on Sunday.

According to results made available here, both Babar and Asif have won three group matches apiece while Bilal has won two. He is slated to meet Indian Varun Madan in his third encounter on Sunday evening.

Babar and Asif, who have swaped No 1 and 2 rankings after the third national ranking event recently, continued their unbeaten run by conjuring up third straight victories.

Babar got the better of Qatar’s Ali Alobaidli 5-2 (46-0, 42-34, 0-45, 0-42, 60-4, 50-6, 68-0) while Asif cruised to 5-3 triumph over Hong Kong’s Fung Kwok Wai (33-0, 14-59, 49-1, 1-57, 32-6, 31-6, 1-36, 44-25).

Majid, who went down to Qatar’s Mohsen Bukshaisha 5-2 in his opening fixture, fought courageously to whip Hong Kong’s Chau Hon Man 5-4 (70-0, 15-37, 79-0, 18-36, 19-49, 30-37, 31-27, 32-29, 42-6) to open his account. He is drawn to face Vietnam’s Nguyen Pham Hoai in his third encounter.

Results:

Mohammad Majid Ali bt Chau Hon Man (Hong Kong) 5-4 (70-0, 15-37, 79-0, 18-36, 19-49, 30-37, 31-27, 32-29, 42-6); Mohammad Asif bt Fung Kwok Wai (Hong Kong) 5-3 (33-0, 14-59, 49-1, 1-57, 32-6, 31-6, 1-36, 44-25); Babar Masih bt Ali Alobaidli (Qatar) 5-2 (46-0, 42-34, 0-45, 0-42, 60-4, 50-6, 68-0).

Saturday’s remaining results: Mohsen Bukshaisha (Qatar) bt Mohammad Majid Ali 5-2 (54-16, 23-45, 0-77, 34-13, 35-18, 69-0, 31-22); Babar Masih bt Ashraf Abu Alhaj (Jordan) 5-2 (35-11, 22-44, 51-14, 8-56, 41-11, 31-2, 44-15); Mohammad Bilal bt Moath Almajali (Jordan) 5-1 (26-30, 49-2, 48-1, 34-22, 30-22, 37-20); Mohammad Asif bt Arafat Rizik (Jordan) 5-1 (63-0, 18-46, 38-13, 39-16, 75-0, 43-11).

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2018