DOHA: Pakistan’s Shahid Aftab and Mohammad Asif advanced to the quarter-finals of the ACBS Asian Men Snooker Championship on Tuesday but compatriot Mohammad Sajjad bowed out of the tournament after a pre-quarterfinal loss.

The current national champion Shahid — who earlier eased past Singapore’s Sunny Wang 4-1 in the last-22 round — was in great form as he cruised into the last-eight after defeating China’s Zhou Jinhao 4-1 [59-54, 63-30, 99(71)-1, 6-65, 62-38].

The 43-year-old Shahid won the first three frames before wrapping up in the victory in the fifth frame.

However, Mohammad Sajjad, the national championship finalist, suffered a 4-1 [78-14, 83(62)-32, 8-96(96), 75(75)-1, 73(52)-0] loss to Iranian cuiest Amir Sarkosh.

Sarkosh raced to a two-frame lead before Sajjad retaliated with a well-built break of 96 to halve the deficit.

But Sarkosh didn’t let the momentum shift from his side as he stitched a break of 75 to secure the fourth frame and sealed the victory in the following frame with another solid break of 52 to end Sajjad’s journey in this tournament.

Asif, meanwhile, continued his sublime form as he edged out Youngjun Park of South Korea 4-3 [61(61)-71, 91(56)-27, 6-97, 72(56)-60, 10-68, 110(100)-14, 66-50] in a thrilling match.

The reigning World Amateur Champion Asif lost the first frame despite a break of 61. Asif, undettered, compiled a break of 56 to level the score.

Park retook the lead but Asif levelled the score with another break of 56. The see-saw battle continued as the South Korean won the fifth frame but Asif refused to back down and displayed his experience with a century-break.

The last frame also went to the wire but 42-year-old Asif ultimately emerged victorious to book the last-eight spot, where he will be up against Sarkosh.

Meanwhile, in the Asian Under-21 event, Pakistan’s young cueists made a strong start.

Hamza Ilyas defeated Taiwan’s Wang Jyun Kai 3-0. Hamza’s impressive breaks of 132 in the first helped him secure the win.

Ahsan Ramzan also won with an identical 3-0 scoreline against Chinese Taipei’s Chen Zih Ying. Ahsan’s breaks of 89 and 55 helped him register the convincing win.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2025