KARACHI, Aug 21: Formidable India and Bahrain stormed into the final of the 6-Red Snooker team series as both the home teams were eliminated on the penultimate day at Karachi Club on Thursday.

India, who the other day gave an 8-2 thrashing to Pakistan ‘B’, registered their second win by outplaying Thailand 9-1 to top group ‘B’ with 17 points.

Similarly, Bahrain who created a scare by getting the better of superior Pakistan ‘A’ 7-3 in the opener on Wednesday, continued their winning spree defeating UAE by the identical score line to emerge as the group ‘A’ leaders with 14 points.

The best of 15 frames final will be played on Friday at 4.00pm.

Pakistan ‘A’ which performed far below the mark against Bahrain finally got their act together to whip UAE 6-4 but it was for academic interest as they have already made an unceremonious exit. The home team ended up with nine points followed by UAE’s seven.

Though Saleh and Naveen despite conceding one frame apiece won their respective matches 2-1, Khurram again faltered by losing 1-2. He was blanked 3-0 by Habib Subah in the opener so does Saleh who failed to win a frame against Hamed Dhaif.

India rounded off their group matches on a winning note by handing a 9-1 defeat to a youthful Thailand. It was only Manan Chandra who conceded a frame to Chinnakrit in his 2-1 win while his compatriots Yasin and Pankaj were home straight.

Thailand finished runners-up in group ‘B’ with seven points followed by Pakistan ‘B’ six.

Results:

Bahrain bt UAE 7-3.

Hamed Dhaif lost to Humaid Al Dharmaki 1-2 (46-49, 21-50, 34-17); Habib Subah bt Salim Al Salim 3-0 (46-11, 42-8, 71-0); Mohammad Omar bt Salim bin Dheeban 2-1 (38-17, 48-17, 22-24).

India bt Thailand 9-1.

Manan Chandra bt Chinnakrit Yaowannasiri 2-1 (0-46, 43-0, 49-14); Yasin Merchant bt Noppon Saengkham 3-0 (39-20, 40-20, 37-0); Pankaj Advani bt Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 3-0 (38-23, 50-9, 37-27).

Pakistan ‘A’ bt UAE 6-4.

Saleh Mohammad bt Humaid Al Dharmaki 2-1 (47-19, 22-35, 35-11); Khurram Agha lost to Salim bin Dheeban 1-2 (12-45, 0-54, 41-20); Naveen Perwani bt Salim Al Salim 2-1 (55-1, 50-1, 25-35).

Friday’s fixtures: India v Bahrain (final) at 4.00pm.