KARACHI: The inaugural Ali Asghar Valika All Pakistan Invitational Snooker Championship commenced on Thursday here at the Naya Nazimabad Gymkhana Snooker Hall, with the country’s leading cueists registering commanding victories in the opening round.

Former world champion Mohammad Asif, competing in two separate matches on the opening day, showcased his enduring class.

Asif first dispatched Sindh’s Umer Memon 3-0 before returning to defeat Waseem Abbas of Punjab by the same scoreline in another best-of-five encounter.

“It’s a good opportunity for us as we haven’t been given chances to compete recently,” Asif said after his second match. “It had been a good day for me as I won the first match comfortably and managed a 128 break in the second. I am trying to display my best snooker so people would enjoy the game and all the juniors here take inspiration.”

Asif’s province-mate Asjad Iqbal, another former national champion, also made a strong statement with two convincing 3-0 victories, overcoming ex-world amateur champion Mohammad Yousuf and later Ghulam Abbas.

Defending national champion Shahid Aftab won both his matches, edging Sindh’s Umair Ansari 3-2 before a more comfortable 3-0 win against Haider Ali of Balochistan.

Last year’s national runner-up Mohammad Sajjad progressed with a 3-1 triumph over Rizwan Hashmi and a 3-0 win against Babar Masih, highlighted by a break of 78 in the latter match.

Rana Irfan and Mubashir Raza, both of Punjab, also recorded two wins each to advance smoothly through the first day.

The day’s major upset came from Sindh’s Umair Khan, who overcame Punjab’s Ahsan Ramzan 3-2 in a tight contest. Ahsan later made amends as he downed Sharjeel Mehmood —who earlier defeated Ali Abbasi — 3-1.

Hamza Akbar routed Abdul Sattar 3-0 and later edged Hasnain Akhtar 3-1. Hasnain who his first match against Mohammad Sahil 3-0.

Other winners on Thursday included Ian Mark John and Ali Hamza.

The tournament features a total prize purse of 1.2 million rupees, with the winner set to receive Rs300,000 and the runner-up Rs200,000. Players have been divided into eight pools, with the top two from each group advancing to the round-of-16. The event’s final is scheduled for July 19.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2026