Babar takes on Toba in snooker final today

KARACHI: Second seed Babar Masih and unseeded Asif Toba sneaked into the final of the Jubilee Insurance Ranking Snooker Championship as they edged out top seeded Muhammad Asif and unseeded Sharjeel Mahmood, respectively, in fiercely-fought semi-finals here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Sunday.

Babar staged a magnificent comeback to overcome holder Asif 6-5 in the all-Punjab semi-final with the frame scores of 55-14, 27-73, 57-61, 8-75, 1-70, 24-76, 59-47, 65-45, 88-31, 80-14, 74-1.

Toba, from Punjab, knocked over Sharjeel of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 43-57, 61-54, 87-13, 28-90, 26-60, 46-66, 80-0, 57-14, 77-49. Both finalists have remained unbeaten.

The best-of-15-frame final, to be telecast live on Geo Super, commences at 10am on Monday (today).By virtue of his semi-final victory, Babar not only dethroned Asif but also displaced him from the top position in the national rankings.

Although the official confirmation is still awaited, it is almost certain that Babar and Asif, by virtue of being the top two cueists of the country, will represent Pakistan in the IBSF World Snooker Championship to be staged in Myanmar later this year.

As expected, the semi-final between Babar and Asif, two of the most prolific cueists of the country, went to the wire with both giving their best and refusing to give up.

Babar, having emerged triumphant in quite a few closely-fought battles earlier in the competition, drew the first blood against the defending champion who responded by claiming the next five frames in a row to get into commanding position.

The 2012 world champion Asif showed his pedigree by compiling a break of 59 in the second frame and one of 58 in the fifth. He was just one frame away from marching into the final after pocketing the sixth frame.

But Babar, as he had done so often in the past, fought back gallantly from the precarious position and turned it around calmly. Refusing to come under pressure, he caused unforced errors from his fancied opponent.

Asif started running out of steam in the last couple of frames and Babar was quick to capitalise on it, drawing level with a break of 54 in the 10th frame and wrapping up the issue with a break of 51 in the decisive 11th frame.

The semi-final between Toba and Sharjeel was also an absorbing one.Sharjeel, hailing from Haripur, won the opening frame but Toba clinched the next two frames to go 2-1 up, with a break of 51 in the third frame.Sharjeel claimed the next three frames to go into 4-2 lead and he was just a couple of frames away from the final. He chalked up breaks of 51 and 54 in successive frames.

But Toba, a former national champion, had reserved his best for the final phase of the match. He was on top of his game in the last three frames and sealed the fate of the match by running away with the 10th frame.