Naseem retains under-21 snooker crown

KARACHI: Naseem Akhtar, the wonder kid of Pakistan snooker, lived up to his big reputation to retain his title as he overcame Muhammad Shahzad in the all-Punjab final of the Jubilee Insurance 10th National Junior Under-21 Snooker Championship 2018 at the PSB Billiards & Snooker Hall in Islamabad on Friday.

According to the details made available by the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), Naseem, who is the reigning IBSF World Junior Under-18 champion, outsmarted Shahbaz 6-3 in the best-of-11-frame title clash with the scores of 63-26, 107-17, 23-60, 60-17, 35-66, 51-64, 61-12, 59-5, 65-53.

Shahbaz put up a brave fight against a fancied opponent, who had started off with a bang, chalking up a swift break of 74 in the second frame to move 2-0 up.The otherwise rampaging Naseem received a wakeup call in the third frame and he was content in playing safely instead of engaging into the typically aggressive mode of his. There were no other big breaks in the match which had become wide open at three-all.

It was the experience of the reigning world title holder which allowed him to keep his dangerous rival at bay. He was firmly in control after winning a couple of frames to go into 5-3 lead and sealed the fate of the match by taking the keenly contested ninth frame.

Naseem received Rs50,000 with the trophy, while Shahbaz collected Rs25,000 with the runner-up trophy. Another Rs5,000 was awarded to Naseem for making the highest break of 111. Umer Khan of Punjab, the winner of National Under-18 Championship, was awarded Rs50,000 with the trophy.

Mudassir Shaikh, also from Punjab, earned Rs25,000 with the runner-up trophy. He claimed a further Rs5,000 for registering the highest break of 65.Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada was the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony. PSB Director General Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera, PBSA president Munawwar Hussain Shaikh, and co-chairman Alamgir Anwar Shaikh were prominent among those present on the occasion.