Fahim pips Rahim in National U21 snooker

KARACHI: Mohammad Fahim came from behind to overpower Abdul Rahim in the all-Punjab final of the Jubilee Insurance 7th National Junior Under-21 Snooker Championship 2015 at the Movenpick Hotel here on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Fahim, who belongs to Sahiwal, trailing 2-3 at the interval, staged a forceful comeback to outwit the perilous Rahim 6-4 with frame scores of 67-59, 15-72, 07-108, 70-16, 25-67, 67-46, 51-73, 74-32, 78-36, 78-27.
The final, featuring two of the most promising youngsters of the country, turned out to be a fiercely fought affair, lasting no less than four hours. Both of them were making their maiden appearance in a final at the national level.
The 18-year-old Rahim, hailing from Rawalpindi, also showed impressive skills in the title clash and his break of 108, the only century of the competition, underlined his big match temperament.
The tone for a tight match was set in the opening frame which went to the wire, which Fahim won.
Rahim won the next couple of frames to move 2-1 up before his opponent drew level with a break of 57 in the fourth frame.
Rahim regained his lead by winning the fifth frame in which he chalked up a break of 52. He was ahead by one frame when the lunch break was taken.
Fortunes continued fluctuating after resumption as the series of closely fought frames followed one after another. Fahim restored parity by taking the sixth frame but Rahim moved ahead yet again by pocketing the next frame.
It was at this point when Fahim demonstrated greater maturity under pressure and won three frames in a row to settle the issue in the tenth frame. Rahim tried desperately to get another chance but he didn’t succeed in the final phase of what already had become a marathon duel.
Cash awards of Rs130,000 were disbursed in the prize distribution ceremony in which Tahir Ahmed, Managing Director, Jubilee General Insurance, who was the chief guest, presented the winner’s trophy to Mohammad Fahim along with a purse of Rs50,000.
Abdul Rahim, the runner-up, received a reward of Rs25,000, while Aamir Tariq and Mohammad Nouman Iqbal, the losing semi-finalists, were given Rs15,000 each and Mohammad Hassan Anwar, Mohammad Afzal, Ali Zaman Khan and Mohammad Adil, the losing quarter-finalists, were compensated with Rs5,000 each. The highest break award ofRs 5,000 was clinched by Abdul Rahim.
Besides cash rewards, there were added incentives for the top performers as well. The President of the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association, Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, announced that both the finalists, Mohammad Fahim and Abdul Rahim, will be representing the country in the Asian under-21 Championship 2015 to be staged in China in April.
It was also confirmed that all the four semi-finalists, Mohammad Fahim, Abdul Rahim, Aamir Tariq and Mohammad Nouman Iqbal, will now be entitled to appear in the all four national ranking tournaments of the current year, starting with the Nationals due to be organised here next month.