Pak cueists stay afloat at IBSF Snooker events

KARACHI: Pakistan’s cueists continued to perform impressively in the twin international events being held at Sharm-e-Sheikh in Egypt.

According to the details made available by the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) on Sunday, both Pakistan outfits remained afloat in the IBSF Team Snooker Championship 2016 by outwitting their rivals on the fifth day of action.

Pakistan-1, comprising Babar Masih and Asjad Iqbal, defeated Saudi Arabia-1 4-1 with the frame scores of 55-67, 75-29, 71-41, 73-30, 86-21.

Pakistan-2, consisting of Mohammad Bilal and Sohail Shahzad, edged out Qatar-1 3-2 with the scores of 45-74, 74-68, 102-19, 68-0, 78-4.

The participating 65 teams have been divided equally in 13 groups for the preliminary rounds at the end of which the top three teams will be proceeding to the knockout phase.

Pakistan-1, placed in the Group C, had begun their campaign by whipping Egypt-16 in straight frames and they meted out similar treatment to Egypt-3 and Jordan in their following games.

Pakistan-2, drawn in the Group B, got off to an equally sensational start as they blanked Egypt-15 in straight frames and won 4-1 against Egypt-2.

Their solitary defeat (1-4) came at the hands of India-8.

Pakistan’s cueists also continued to enjoy success in the IBSF 6-Reds Snooker Championship in which 145 cueists from 26 countries are taking part.

Sohail boosted his chances of advancing to the knockout phase by edging out Karim Abdelmeguid of Egypt 4-3 with the frame scores of 9-49, 25-36, 40-21, 20-34, 39-7, 33-15, 33-23.

Bilal, Pakistan’s national champion, remains in the hunt for a place in the next round as he hammered Ashraf El Gharib of Egypt in straight frames with the scores of  42-1, 50-0, 35-0, 30-0.