KARACHI: Seasoned campaigner Mohammad Sajjad, who has done wonders for the country in the past, opened his campaign at the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) world amateur snooker championship on a winning note while brushing aside Indian cueist I.V. Rajeev straight in Bangalore on Wednesday evening.

According to the results made available here, Sajjad, who won the NBP Cup for the second time since its inception at home recently, kept the national flag aloft by imposing to a 69-63, 56-18, 61-10, 75-32 victory over his opponent in group ‘P’.

National champion and Pakistan No 1 Mohammad Asif Toba followed in the footsteps of Sajjad by getting the better of Australian Adrian Ridley in same fashion.

Asif Toba posted 53-38, 56-18, 69-63, 73-60 victory in group R to the delight of his teammates and officials who were disappointed following Hamza’s loss..

Hamza the third Pakistani who is competing in the annual spectacle, had went down 3-4 fighting to Thailand’s Kritsanut Lertsatta­yathorn in his opening fixture.

Meanwhile, at the time of filing this report, both Sajjad and Asif Toba were engaged in their second match against Dominik Scherubi (Austria) and Josh Boileau (Ireland) respectively.

Hamza plays his second match against Egyptian cueist Hatem Yaseen on Friday at 10am Indian time.

Results:

Mohammad Sajjad (Pakistan) bt I. V. Rajeev (India) 4-0 (69-63, 56-18, 61-10, 75-32); Mohammad Asif Toba (Pakistan) bt Adrian Ridley (Australia) 4-0 (53-38, 56-18, 69-63, 73-60).

Published in Dawn, November 21th, 2014