Hamza stuns Sajjad, Shahram shocks Asif to reach final

KARACHI: Fourth seed Hamza Akbar and unseeded Shahram Changezi booked a date in the final by surprising top seed Mohammad Sajjad and sixth seed Mohammad Asif, respectively, in the semi-finals of the National Snooker championship 2015 here on Sunday.
The best-of-15-frame final will be getting underway at 10 am on Monday (today) and — like both the semi-finals — it will be televised live on Geo Super.
It will be followed by the prize distribution ceremony at 4.30 pm in which Tahir Ahmed, Managing Director, Jubilee General Insurance, will be the chief guest.
In the first semi-final, Shahram overcame a spirited comeback from Asif, a former world champion, to win it 6-5 with frame scores of 93-1, 80-10, 12-104, 79-38, 50-42, 68-33, 32-77, 10-77, 66-68, 46-92, 54-12 after a battle lasting four hours.
In the other semi-final, Hamza needed little over three hours to overpower Sajjad, a two-time national champion, 6-3 with frame scores being 36-93, 77-43, 74-16, 14-79, 59-15, 62-24, 2-64, 59-48, 83-20.
Both the semi-finals produced upset results. Shahram brought about the downfall of the 32-year-old Asif, belonging to Faisalabad, but not before the latter had demonstrated fighting qualities after trailing by four frames.
Shahram, who fired a break of 80 in the second frame, was leading comfortably 5-1 but Asif pulled it back, chalking up breaks of 64 and 52 under pressure, as he managed to make it five-all.
He, however, could not sustain momentum in the decisive 11th frame.
Hamza proved too good in the end for the 32-year-old Sajjad, easily the most accomplished cueist to have emerged from Sargodha, who was the top seed for the event.
Sajjad was unable to get his vintage form going and some unforced errors didn’t serve his cause either. His best moment during an otherwise forgettable match was a break of 79 in the fourth frame.
Hamza, the youngest cueist to have captured the coveted title, will be making his third successive appearance in the final of the National Championship.
He had clinched the crown at an age of 19 a couple of years ago but was unable to retain the trophy when he was overpowered by Asif Toba in the final last year.
The 21-year-old Hamza, hailing from the industrial town of Faisalabad, is now just one match away from recapturing the title.
On the other hand, his opponent, 31-year-old Shahram from Islamabad, will be aiming to win the Nationals for the first time in his career.
The title-clash is expected to be a thrilling one as both the finalists have got there after the elimination of quite a few former champions and trophy aspirants.
Asif Toba (2014), Mohammad Asif (2009 and 2012), Mohammad Sajjad (2008 and 2010) and Shahid Aftab (2009) had already been sent packing in the tournament, which has witnessed quite a few upsets during the course of nine days.