Sajjad reaches snooker semis at Asian Indoor Games

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan:  Pakistan’s highly experienced cueist Mohammad Sajjad blasted his way into the semi-finals when he overcame Qatar’s Al Obaidli Ali Nasser KA in the quarter-finals of the Men’s 6-Red Snooker singles competitions at the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games here at the well-equipped billiards arena on Wednesday.

After winning the first frame 35-34, Sajjad’s rival Nasser, who is the 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games bronze medallist, bounced back strongly with a 45-6 win to level the score.

Sajjad, also the runner-up of the 2014 World Championship in India, once again took lead by engineering a massive 51-14 victory in the third frame.

The 25-year-old Nasser fought back, winning the fourth frame 51-8 to make it 2-2. Sajjad went on to win the fifth and sixth frames 41-21 and 45-0 to take 4-2 lead.

Nasser clinched the seventh frame 41-32 to make the run interesting. But Sajjad showed a lot of composure and won the eighth frame 51-0 to complete a 5-3 victory.His fine run included a break of 41 in the sixth frame and 38 in the eighth.

In the semi-final on Thursday (today), Sajjad will face Yan Bingtao of China, who defeated Kamal Chawla of India 5-1 in their quarter-final on Wednesday.Earlier, Mohammad Sajjad crafted a well-deserved 5-4 win over Lin Tang Ho Alan of Hong Kong to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Sajjad kept his composure to register his second hard-earned win in the tournament. After winning the first frame 33-27, Sajjad lost his way when he was beaten by his rival from Hong Kong in the next two frames with the scores of 14-51 and 0-41. However, Sajjad, who recently won the Asian 6-Red Snooker Championship in Bishkek, found his path once again by winning the fourth frame 36-7.But Lin moved 3-2 ahead by crafting a 44-4 win in the fifth frame.

Sajjad won the sixth frame 33-24 to make it 3-3. The 43-year-old Lin again left Sajjad behind with a smart 34-14 win.

Sajjad showed more application and swept the last two frames 54-4 and 37-27 to romp to a splendid victory in the slots in which 151 athletes are showing their worth.

Sajjad carded breaks of 37 in the eighth frame, 20 in the sixth and 19 in the fourth. Lin’s highest break was 23 which he scored in the seventh frame.

Sajjad had defeated Jordon’s Almaaitah Sharafaldean Riyad Nahar 5-4 in the round of 32 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Mohammad Bilal was beaten 5-1 by Iran’s 28-year-old Soheil Vahedi.

The 32-year-old Bilal, who had beaten Nguyen Thanh Binh of Vietnam 5-0 on Tuesday, was completely off-colour. Vahedi recorded the win with the frame scores of 61-11, 44-8, 54-0, 46-16, 17-37 and 30-16. Vahedi’s highest breaks of 57 and 50 came in the first and the third frames.