Bilal off to a superb start at Asian snooker

KARACHI: Pakistan’s national champion Mohammad Bilal got off to a sensational start in the 32nd Asian Snooker Championship 2016 being played in Doha, Qatar.

According to the information made available by the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) here on Sunday, Bilal, making his debut in the continental event, won both his opening day’s matches in straight frames, while his compatriot Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sajjad also began their campaign on a winning note but Pakistan’s fourth cueist, Sohail Shahzad, succumbed to defeat in his maiden outing in the eight-day competition.

A total of 58 cueists from as many as 20 countries have entered the championship, having been divided into 12 groups for the preliminary rounds.

Placed in Group C, Mohammad Bilal overwhelmed Baek Minhu of South Korea in his opening game in straight frames with the scores being 76-2, 104-2, 87-14, 69-37.

Later in the day, he blasted Abdul Rehman Abdul Mohsin of Qatar, also in straight frames, with the scores of 69-33, 75-55, 67-56, 85-30 to enjoy an incredibly successful first day in the Asian Championship. His remaining league matches will be against Mohammad Shehab of UAE and Meylis Atayev of Turkemenistan.

Mohammad Asif, the 2012 world amateur champion, who has been seeded second in the event, also got off to a flying start as he whipped Khalid Alastal of Palestine in straight frames with the scores of 103-0, 85-15, 90-16, 77-19). Placed in Group B, he began with a century break of 103 in the opening frames and chalked up another break of 59 in the very next frame.

His rivals in the remaining league matches will be Karam Fatima (Syria), Omar Al Ajlani (Saudi Arabia) and Abdul Lateef Al Fawal (Qatar).

Mohammad Sajjad, a former world number two, was made to work hard in his opening Group J encounter, while taming Au Chi Chung of Hong Kong 4-2 with the frame scores of 16-69, 63-18, 68-70, 52-3, 83-18, 60-30. His opponents in the remaining league fixtures will be Ahmed Saif (Qatar), Ahmed Janahi (Bahrain) and Mohammad Shamil Ameen (Sri Lanka).

Sohail Shahzad was the only Pakistani cueist to have been beaten on the opening day as the experienced Manan Chandra of India overpowered him 4-2 in the Group C fixture with the frame scores of 67-48, 27-55, 25-79, 91-5, 62-17, 62-14.