DOHA: Pakistan’s cueists experienced mixed fortunes at the ACBS Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship on Thursday, as Ahsan Ramzan won an all-Pakistan clash while Mohammad Hasnain Akhtar lost in the pre-quarter-final stage .

However, Hasnain’s winning streak was short-lived as he succumbed to a narrow 4-3 [61-43, 31-77, 68-75(56), 68-43, 67(55)-24, 1-83(76), 57-38] defeat to Liu Yu Sang Shaun of Hong Kong in the pre-quarterfinals.

Hasnain started the day strongly, convincingly winning his last-18 round match 3-0 [73-8, 80(72)-12, and 72(72)-0] against Sri Lankan player Mohammed Zahim. Hasnain stitched a 72-break in the second frame.

Hasnain lost the first frame but clawed two frames back immediately, to take the lead. Shaun levelled the score in fourth frame and secured the lead with a break of 55 in the next frame.

Hasnain, who won the U-21 championship in Riyadh last year, refused to back down as he clinched the penultimate frame with a well-built 76-break.

But his effort proved to be futile as Shaun got the better of him in the deciding frame.

Meanwhile, in the other pre-quarterfinal Ahsan Ramzan dominated Hamza Ilyas 4-0 [93-6, 80-36, 64-1, 70-23].

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2025