Babar claims top snooker ranking

KARACHI: Babar Masih, the first cueist from Rawalpindi to win a national level snooker tournament, has risen to the top rank by virtue of his recent title triumph.

A spokesman of the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) confirmed that Babar, 29, has leapfrogged from fourth position to the top slot after winning Jubilee Insurance 2nd Ranking Snooker Championship 2016 here on Saturday.

Making his first-ever appearance in the final of any national-ranking event, he edged out Asjad Iqbal 6-5 in an epic final which went to the full distance of 11 frames and lasted nearly six hours.

Babar, whose break of 135 also earned him the award of the highest break of the eight-day championship, dedicated his maiden title triumph to the legendary boxer Mohammad Ali who had passed away earlier the same day.

Babar has displaced Mohammad Bilal who was the defending national champion. Sohail Shahzad, who was one of the losing semi-finalists, is expected to retain his second place with runner-up Asjad set to move to the third position from his previous ranking of seventh.

Bilal, who was the top seed, may slip to the fourth position after his early exit. Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sajjad could also get demoted with Abu Saim and Shahid Aftab rising due to their recent creditable performance.