LAHORE: Ahsan Ramzan will meet Hamza Ilyas in the inaugural SGL U-17 National Snooker Championship decider after winning their respective semi-finals here on Monday.

Earlier, the quarter-finals were also decided in the morning.

Ahsan in his semi-final faced strong resistance from Zubair Tahir before winning the battle 4-2.

Ahsan struggled before taking the first frame 57-46 but Zubair roared back to claim the second frame 56-26.

Making an impressive comeback, Ahsan bagged the next two frames 53-18 and 67-41 to take a 3-1 lead.

In a seesaw match, a rejuvenated Zubair comfortably secured the fifth frame 56-8 before Ahsan sealed the fate of the match by winning the sixth 64-40 to confirm a place in the final.

In contrast, Hamza had an easy sailing in his last-four match against Muzammil Sheikh as the former recorded a facile 4-0 victory (70-57, 57-32, 66-35, 48-10).

The best-of-nine-frame final is scheduled for Tuesday starting at 11:00am.

After the U-17 event, the national U-21 tournament will start.

Results:

Semi-finals: Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Zubair Tahir (Punjab) 4-2 (57-46, 56-26, 53-18, 67-41, 8-56,64-40); Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) bt Muzammil Sheikh (Punjab) 4-0 (70-57, 57-32, 66-35, 48-10)

Quarter-finals: Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Jahanzaib Jahngir (Balochistan) 4-0 (93-5,(60), 61-16, 63-36, 80-04(80); Zubair Tahir (Punjab) bt Mohammad Hasnain Akhtar (Sindh) 4-1 (85-15, 65-31, 06-60, 63-49, 71-08); Muzammil Sheikh (Punjab) bt Muzammil Malik (KP) 4-2 (47-64, 41-51, 50-17, 48-17, 68-66, 81-61); Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) bt Haroon Saleem (Sindh) 4-0.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2021