KARACHI: Former national champion Mohammad Bilal made his mark while routing Hong Kong’s Chung Ka Wai in the fully stretched semi-final by 5-4 frames and is now just a step away from capturing the inaugural ACBS 10-Reds Asian Tour title in Doha on Saturday.

Riding on the crest of a wave, Bilal stormed back from 1-3 down to post yet another exciting victory over his opponent and set a title clash with Irish Brendan O’Donoghue who blanked celebrated Indian cueist Pankaj Advani 5-0 in another semi-final.

Having finished runner-up in the preceding Asian 6-Reds, Bilal was home 45-24, 60-20, 0-51, 37-50, 13-53, 51-15, 50-0, 28-57, 62-1.

The Irish cueist Donoghue, meanwhile, taught Advani a lesson giving him no room while inflicting a straight 5-0 whitewash which is one of the worstever defeat of the latter who had a number of world titles under his belt including billiards.

The Irish won the duel 48-1, 61-8, 48-37, 71-41, 66-25.

The final between Donoghue and Bilal was in progress at the time of filing this report.

Result:

Semi-finals: Mohammad Bilal bt Chrung Ka Wai (Hong Kong) 5-4 (45-24, 60-20, 0-51, 37-50, 13-53, 51-15, 50-0, 28-57, 62-1); Brendan O’Donoghue (Ireland) bt Pankaj Advani (India) 5-0 (48-1, 61-8, 48-37, 71-41, 66-25).

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2018