Teenager Hasnain stuns Ahsan in National Snooker

LAHORE: Fifteen years old Mohammad Hasnain of Sindh pulled off the biggest upset of the event when he downed former world champion Ahsan Ramzan in Group E fixture of the National Snooker Championship at the NBP Sports Complex in Karachi on Wednesday.

Hasnain, who recently won two back-to-back junior titles in Lahore, conquered Ahsan Ramzan of Punjab 4-2. Ahsan is a former world champion and reigning Asian Under-21 winner.

After losing the first frame 33-95, Hasnain made a smart fightback when he won the second frame 95-16 to level the score. He continued with his fine run and claimed the next two frames 72-25, 59-3 to take 3-1 lead. Ahsan at this stage managed a solid 73 break to win the fifth frame 73-0 to reduce the deficit to 2-3. However, it did not unsettle Hasnain as he won the sixth frame in a commanding fashion with 74-6 to seal his first win of the event. The frame score was 33-95, 95-16, 72-25, 59-03, 0-73 (73), 74-06 in favour of Hasnain.

Hasnain, who crashed out of the event despite the big win, had been beaten by Fazal Umar of Sindh, Zaib Khan of Balochistan and Adil Khan of Balochistan in his other three matches in the five-player group.

“Ahsan is a world champion and I took him seriously and the result was encouraging. It has instilled a lot of confidence in me and it will help me in future,” Hasnain told The News.

Earlier, in the same group Ahsan Ramzan downed Fazal Umar of Sindh 4-1, his second win in the group. The frame score was 39-58, 65-31, 87-16 (82), 117-4 (52), 103-18. In another fixture in the same group, Adil Khan of Balochistan defeated Mohammad Hasnain of Sindh 4-0 with the frames score being 70-23, 69-27, 66-70, 83-8.

In Group F, Muhammad Naseem Akhtar of Punjab managed a century break as he defeated Zafar Iqbal of Islamabad 4-1. The frames score was 62-69, 69-33, 77-17(52), 108-01 (108), 65-55 (65 in Naseem’s favour.