KARACHI: Promising Haris Tahir inched closer towards picking up his maiden national ranking crown when he accounted for former national champion Mohammad Bilal 6-3 and set up a title clash with veteran Mohammad Sajjad who coasted to 6-4 triumph over defending champion Mohammad Asif in other semi-final on Monday.

Haris, the find of the ongoing event, has proved his mettle in a short span of time while Sajjad has made a comeback after layoff and domestic title has eluded him since long.

The best of 15-frames final of the 12th National Bank of Pakistan Ranking Snooker Championship between Haris and Sajjad starts at 10am at bank’s sports complex on Tuesday and the prize distribution takes place at 3.45pm. President of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Arif Usmani will grace the prize distribution.

Having captured national U-18 and U-21 titles youthful Haris enjoyed firm grip over Bilal and raced to earn 4-0 and 5-1 lead. He conceded seventh and eighth frames only to to clinch the next frame and wrap up victory.

Haris also chalked up two breaks of 65 and 52 in the second and third frames. He was home 77-18, 65-8, 72-8, 59-35, 1-67, 76-24, 13-55, 35-64, 71-57.

Sajjad, former world championship runner-up with many titles under his belt, went into oblivion after the demise of his wife in traffic accident in Sargodha.

After a break he made a comeback by reaching final of the third ranking tournament last year where he went down to Asif.

On Monday Sajjad not only avenged his last year’s defeat but also interrupted Asif’s title winning run of 11th NBP Cup, third ranking and 45th national’s.

A century break of 127 in the third and 88 in the eighth built Sajjad’s confidence.

However, Asif resisted and replied with breaks of 63, 64, 86 and 60 but bowed out.

Sajjad won the battle 63-33, 12-75, 127-0, 17-72, 0-86, 76-23, 8-73, 88-0, 66-55, 83-11.

Results:

Semi-finals: Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) 6-3 (77-18, 65-8, 72-8, 59-35, 1-67, 76-24, 13-55, 35-64, 71-57), Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 6-4 (63-33, 12-75, 127-0, 17-72, 0-86, 76-23, 8-73, 88-0, 66-55, 83-11).

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2020