KARACHI, Aug 2: Fifth seed Saleh Mohammad inched closer to defending his 11th Red and Whites snooker championship when he reached the final after winning his quarterfinal and semifinal matches Friday.

Saleh trounced his arch-rival Mohammad Yousuf 5/3 in the morning quarterfinal and then returned in the evening to blank out young Atiq Latif Bux who had reached the last four after upsetting Naveen Perwani 5/2.

The Pathan will take on unseeded Amit Perwani for the title match Saturday who on the penultimate day overcame Vishan Gir 5/3 in the morning and then returned from the dead to beat Minhas Malik 6/5. Minhas had made an evening appearance after recording a 5/3 victory over M.Faiz Malik.

Amit slumped to 0-2 deficit and a later stared right into the eyes of defeat after Minhas took a 5-3 lead and needing just one frame to reach the final.

Nevertheless, Amit, probably saving his best for the end, slammed breaks of 71 and 61 in the last two frames to leave Minhas stunned and a good gathering in ecstasy.

Amit won the more than 180 minutes duel 20-69 26-59 66-24 32-73 55-11 30-59 71-28 0-73 65-10 80-25 67-21.

The showpiece match between old foes Saleh and Yousuf didn’t provide the expected fireworks as both the players adopted safety first strategy. However Saleh surged to a 2-0 lead before Yousuf drew level. But Saleh once again went 4-2 ahead, thanks to a break of 69 in the sixth frame that ironically was the only notable break of the match.

Yousuf did manage to get one back when he won the seventh frame but that was the least he could do as Saleh won the eighth frame to shut the door on the veteran.

Saleh won 62-57 59-56 25-89 11-77 75-37 86-21 46-71 57-13.

The upset result of the morning session, in which all the four quarterfinals were contested, Naveen failed to keep the winning momentum when he was beaten 5/2 by Atiq Latif Bux who thoroughly deserved the victory on account of being the most consistent of the two.

Atiq’s 60-22 65-45 48-75 76-6 43-61 80-74 90-19 win included breaks of 30, 47, 40 and 59. Naveen had breaks of 47 and 40 in the second and third frames.

Amit Perwani, in his quarterfinal against Vishan Gir, never looked under threat though a lapse of concentration did provide Gir an opportunity to close in the gap. Amit built up a 4-0 lead before Gir won three frames in a trot to narrow the deficit to 4-3. But Amit completed the demolition job by winning the eight frame narrowly at 59-40.

Amit won 64-55 64-51 70-67 79-13 47-54 16-99 31-93 and 59-40.

While Amit was engaged in a see-saw battle with Minhas Malik on the other table in the semi-final, Saleh was in ruthless form and never allowed Atiq an opportunity to dictate terms.

Saleh’s 82-30 71-16 69-49 96-17 59-44 74-7 victory included breaks of 31, 32 (both in third frame), 51 and 68.

RESULTS