KARACHI, May 1: The 29th Jubilee Insurance Asian Snooker Championship is over for Pakistan after remaining two contenders — Mohammad Sajjad and Abu Saim — bowed out of the event’s quarter-finals at hotel Sheraton on Wednesday.
Iran’s Aamir Sarkosh whipped Sajjad 5-2 to propel in the last four where he was joined by China’s Zhao Xintong, who accounted for Saim 5-3 in the other encounter.
Saleh Mohammad of Afghanistan and Omar Al Kojah of Syria were the other two players who completed the semi-final line-up.
The former brushed aside Iran’s Mohammad Lababi 5-1 while the latter defeated Lee Chun Wai of Hong Kong by the identical margin.
Iranian Aamir, who finished runner-up in group B behind Saleh, overcome early deficit to inflict an authoritative 5-2 victory and halt the unbeaten run of former Asian No 2, Sajjad.
Aamir, who was home 58-68, 66-38, 59-23, 50-31, 82-0, 36-76, 74-38 meets Omar Al Kojah in the second semi-final after thelatter took little time to brush aside Lee Chun Wai 5-1 in convincing fashion.
Kojah conceded fifth frame while registering 68-48, 47-38, 73-5, 67-18, 18-58, 73-39 victory over his opponent.
It may be mentioned that Lee pulled off the biggest upset of the event when he sent world champion Mohammad Asif packing 4-3 in the last-16 match on Tuesday.
The 40-year-old Saleh, a former world No 2, kept his chances alive as he cut his opponent to size. A veteran of many world and Asian snooker championships, Saleh had a firm grip after 1-1 and raced to win the following four frames 80-22, 2-113, 86-8,89-30, 79-9, 65-42.
“I’m in the best nick and look forward to winning laurels for my country,” elated Saleh told Dawn afterwards.
Pakistan is the second home for Saleh Mohammad, who was groomed by the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF)and apart from winning numerous ranking titles he scaled new heights by playing the final of the world championship in Jiangmin, China, in 2003 losing 6-11 to Indian Pankaj Advani.
Saleh, who is unbeaten so far, is pitted against Zhao Xintong in the first semi-final as the latter recovered from three frames down to inflict 5-3 defeat on Saim.
Saim has lost the match in same manner in which his compatriot Mohammad Asif was knocked out in the pre quarter-finals the other day.
The Pakistani cueist was 3-0 up needing only two frames to post win as he lost concentration and saw the remaining five frames slipped from his hands one after the other.
Zhao, who held the highest break of the event in his name (136), is a great break-building cueist. His Wednesday’s triumph envisaged two more century breaks 102 in the fifth frame and 129 in the sixth. The scores were 32-87, 37-86, 27-64, 57-3, 107-31, 129-6, 70-12, 65-27.
Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) president Alamgir Shaikh has expressed his displeasure on the elimination of all Pakistani cueists from the event.
“Among others, the PBSF was focusing more on the pair of Asif and Sajjad, but they failed to deliver,” he told Dawn.
Meanwhile, cueists from four countries — Qatar, Sri Lanka, China and Hong Kong — left for their homes after completing theirengagements. The eight Pakistani cueists have also left for their homes.
Results:Quarter-finals:Zhao Xintong (China) bt Abu Saim (Pakistan) 5-3 (32-87, 37-86, 27-64, 57-3, 107-31, 129-6, 70-12, 65-27); Omar Al Kojah (Syria) bt Lee Chun Wai (Hong Kong) 5-1 (68-48, 47-38, 73-5, 67-18, 18-58, 73-39); Saleh Mohammad (Afghanistan) bt Mohammad Lababi (Iran) 5-1 (80-22, 2-113, 86-8, 89-30, 79-9, 65-42); Aamir Sarkosh (Iran) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Pakistan) 5-2 (58-68, 66-38, 59-23, 50-31, 82-0, 36-76, 74-38).
Thursday’s fixtures:Semi-finals (Best of 11 frames):At 10.00am: Saleh Mohammad (Afghanistan) v Zhao Xintong (China)
At 2.00pm (approximately): Aamir Sarkosh (Iran) v Omar Al Kojah (Syria)