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KARACHI: Spectacular Aditya Mehta of India won the 28th edition of Asian Snooker Championship when he beat compatriot and former world champion Pankaj Advani 7-5 in the final at Doha (Qatar), according to messages received on Monday.
In a thrilling best-of-13 frames final at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation Hall that lasted a little under six hours, top-seeded Mehta rallied past Advani 11-90, 72-57, 76-9, 0-139, 74-22, 56-60, 77-7, 72-64, 80-0, 40-82, 9-94, 59-41.
It was Mehta's first career title as he foiled Advani's dream of a grand double after having won the Asian billiards title recently.
“Its the biggest win of my career so far. I've won Asian Games silver and bronze. But I would rate this win above all that as it's my first international title,” he told a website.
Earlier in the semifinals, Mehta defeated world champion Hossein Ayouri 6-3 in the best-of-11 frames semifinal while Advani battled past Thailand's Noppon Saengkham 6-4.
In the meantime, Pakistani squad comprising of two cueists Muhammad Asif and Sultan Muhammad with Manager Munawar Shaikh returned here Monday after a disappointing performance in the Asian event.
Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) President Alamgir Shaikh who went with the team as a delegate has stayed back in Qatar.
Muhammad Asif and debutant Sultan failed to qualify for the knock-out round for the first time in a decade.
