COLOMBO: Pakistan’s cueists made a strong start at the third SAARC Snooker Championship on Tuesday in Colombo, winning all their matches on the opening day.

Mohammad Asif — who won the record-equalling third IBSF World Snooker Championship in November 2024 — thrashed Murugesu Prathap of Sri Lanka 4-0 [103(56)-03, 88-35, 64(53)-34, 70-10], compiling breaks of 56 and 53 in the process.

The 42-year-old Asif also defeated Bangladesh’s Ahmed Nizamuddin 4-1 [75(75)-09, 101(61)-00, 09-62, 116(56)-09, 86-18], with breaks of 75, 61 and 56.

Mohammad Naseem Akhtar, another Pakistani player, also registered a 4-0 [82(53)-17, 69-25, 62-30, 68-45] win over Sri Lanka’s Susantha Botheju, with a highest break of 53.

In other notable results on the opening day, India’s Paras Gupta emerged victorious against Sri Lankan cueist Mohamed Musharaff 4-1 while Thaha Irshath was the only player from Sri Lanka to record victories. Irshath recorded two 4-0 triumphs over Nepal’s Ayush Gautam and Bangladesh’s Asif Imran.

Nepal’s Ankit Man also had a convincing 4-0 win over Ahmed Nizamuddin.

This edition of the championship features 12 players from five countries and will conclude on Jan 10. The players are divided into three groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the knockout stage.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2025