KARACHI: Youngster Ahsan Ramzan inched closer towards unprecedented glory when he downed eighth seed Babar Masih by six frames to five in a nerve-tingling semi-final of the NBP 46th National Snooker Championship here on Sunday.

The talented Lahore cueist’s opponent in the 13-frame decider on Monday will be second seed Mohammad Sajjad who accounted for Asian bronze medallist Haris Tahir 6-4 in the other semi-final.

Ahsan, the current national under-17 champion who had stunned top seed and two-time world champion Mohammad Asif in the Saturday’s quarter-final, never looked back and held his nerve to win the decisive frame against Babar.

Ahsan, who is just a victory away to become youngest ever player to win a national title, won the five-hour duel with a scoreline of 55-22, 83-9, 11-101, 83-8, 0-70, 58-59, 2-60, 84-2, 54-48, 46-57, 60-2.

Rawalpindi-based Babar, 34, had topped Group ‘H’ and remained undefeated until Sunday.Sajjad, who had a dismal run losing his opening two Group ‘B’ matches, made a remarkable comeback through his sheer experience.

He exhibited awesome skills to oust Haris 33-95, 66-57, 4-71, 69-0, 64-23, 59-71, 58-20, 61-89, 67-15, 62-29 in a four-hour battle.

Promising Haris, who is also former Asian under-21 silver medallist, fought gallantly until it four frames all before losing the next two frames in the encounter.

Results:

Semi-finals: Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Haris Tahir (Punjab) 6-4 (33-95, 66-57, 4-71, 69-0, 64-23, 59-71, 58-20, 61-89, 67-15, 62-29); Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Babar Masih (Punjab) 6-5 (55-22, 83-9, 11-101, 83-8, 0-70, 58-59, 2-60, 84-2, 54-48, 46-57, 60-2).

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2021