DOHA: Pakistan’s cuesits Mohammad Naseem Akhtar and Awaisullah Munir moved into the ACBS Asian Men Snooker Championship quarter-finals after winning their respective round-of-16 matches on Wednesday.

Naseem registered a narrow 4-3 win against Chau Hon Man of Hong Kong while Awaisullah defeated India’s Pankaj Advani 4-2.

Naseem started in a dominant fashion as he clinched the first frame 124-11 but Chau quickly draw level after winning the second frame 57-35.

The cueist from Hong Kong then took the lead with a 64-18 win but the 30-year-old Naseem retaliated to secure the fourth frame 60-49.

The seesaw battle continued as Naseem claimed the fifth frame with an impressive break of 86 but Chau send the match into the decider with a 86-4 victory in the sixth frame.

Naseem came out on top in the decisive seventh frame with a comfortable 95-04 win and confirmed the quarter-final berth.

In the other last 16 match, Awaisullah lost the first frame 07-64 but then made a break of 60 to level the score before taking the lead with a 64-51 win in the third frame.

Pankaj clawed a frame back to equal the score at 2-2 but Awaisullah, who beat Khaled Alastai of Palestine 4-1 on Tuesday, retook the lead with a dazzling break of 112 before wrapping up the triumph in the sixth 58-46.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2024