Awais, Hasnain win Asian snooker titles

LAHORE: Pakistan’s Awais Ullah Munir and Mohammad Hasnain Akhtar on Tuesday did a terrific job to win titles of their respective events of the Asian 6 Red and Asian 15 Red Under-21 Snooker Championships in Riyadh.

In the 6 Red final, Awais downed Hong Kong’s Nansen Wan 6-3. This is the first title for Awais in the international circuit. After winning the first frame 65-0, Awais lost his focus and lost the second frame 26-35. However, he recovered well by winning the third frame 36-27 to secure 2-1 lead. Nansen bounced back and secured a 38-20 victory in the fourth frame. However, Awais had thought something different. The young cueist won the next three frames 65-0, 45-13 and 60-8 to stretch his lead to 5-2. Nansen won the eighth frame 34-0 but Awais notched a 46-37 win in the ninth frame to seal an emphatic victory.

The frames score was 65-0, 26-35, 36-27, 20-38, 65-0, 45-13, 60-8, 0-34, 46-37 in favour of Awais. Awais had defeated his teammate Asjad Iqbal 5-2 in the semi-final Monday night.

Rookie cueist Hasnain conquered the 2024 World Amateur Snooker Championship winner Ahsan Ramzan 4-3 to annex the Asian 15 Red Under-21 Championship crown. This was the debut event for the Karachi-based cueist. “It was a superb finish. I am thankful to God for this,” Hasnain told ‘The News’.

“It was a good experience for me. The venue here was very good and tables were much better (than in Pakistan). I learnt a lot here. I also learnt from the senior cueists and I hope it will help me in my career,” said Hasnain who had to struggle against the experienced Ahsan to ensure the win.

After winning the first frame 64-18, Hasnain lost the way in the second frame which Ahsan won 55-10. Ahsan won the third frame 78-32 to take 2-1 lead. However, Hasnain regained his composure and clinched the fourth frame 67-16 to make it 2-2. Ahsan took lead again by winning the fifth frame 64-24. However, Hasnain made a marvellous fightback to win the next two frames 94-20, 70-35 to seal a glorious title victory.

Hasnain also fired a huge break of 93 in the seventh frame. The frame score remained 64-18, 10-55, 32-78, 67-16, 24-64, 94-20(93).