RIYADH: Pakistan stars Awaisullah Munir and Asjad Iqbal made waves at the ACBS Asian 15-Red Undet-21 and 6-Red Men’s Snooker Championship, advancing to the pre-quarterfinals of the latter event on Sunday.

Awaisullah, the 30-year-old from Lahore, showed his mettle with a stunning comeback against Thail­and’s Kritsanut Lertsat­tayathorn. Trailing 1-3, Awaisullah won three consecutive frames (35-20, 40-0, 45-07) to clinch the match 4-3.

Awaisullah, who was the finalist in the ACBS Asian Championship held in Doha in February this year, had earlier won the second frame 69-0 with a solid break of 69.

Asjad, the current nati­onal champion, continued his dominant form with a 40-0 (40), 33-05, 02-43, 69-0 (69), 65-0 win over Iran’s Arman Dinarvand.

The 30-year-old had earlier defeated Kuwait’s Ahmed Abul 71-0 (71), 59-01 (59), 42-04, 63-0, with a sublime 71-point break in the first frame.

Awaisullah, who has been in impressive form this season, will face Hong Kong’s Chau Hon Man in the round-of-16, while Asjad will take on Iran’s Ayman Alamri.

In the Under-21 15-red event, Pakistan’s Ahsan Ram­zan and Hasnain Akhtar directly qualified for the quarter-finals. Ahs­an, the defending champion, is looking to retain his title, while Hasnain is aiming to make a mark in his maiden international tournament.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2024