KARACHI: Former national champion Moh­a­m­mad Bilal scaled new heights when he outplayed Ireland’s Bren­dan O’Donoghue 6-1 in the best-of-11 frames final to win the inaugural ACBS 10-Reds Asian Tour in Doha on Saturday evening.

Bilal, a native of Mandi Bahauddin in Punjab, went from stren­gth to strength in Doha over the last 12 days.

First pairing with compatriot Mohammad Majid, he won a bronze after the duo lost to India 1 by 2-3 in the ACBS Team Event semi-final. Then he picked up a silver after losing to Thailand’s Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon 3-7 in the Asian 6-Reds final before lady luck finally smiled on him.

According to results, showing great break-building ability, he conquered the final with a fabulous 46-42, 36-48, 47-1, 67-1, 54-23, 55-0, 59-4 win over his opponent.

The triumph envisaged five splendid breaks of 46, 46, 42, 55 and 42 in the first, third, fourth, sixth and seventh frames.

Jobless Bilal fetched a winning purse of US $12,000 while the Irish cueist earned runner-up purse of US $6,000.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2018