Asif likely to be top-ranked cueist once again

KARACHI: The veteran Muhammad Asif is likely to become the top-ranked cueist of the country once more after winning the 11th NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2019 which concluded here at the NBP Sport Complex over the weekend.

It’s not often that someone having been ranked at seventh place before the start of a tournament jumps to the top position at the end of it but the plethora of shocking results seems to have seriously helped the former world champion in climbing to the top of the tree once more.

The Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) is due to issue new rankings later this week and, going by their points system, it looks almost certain that the 37-year-old Asif will regain the top slot.

Mubashir Raza, who went down fighting in what turned out to an epic final extending to the full distance of 15 frames, is also set for a massive leap in his ranking. Ranked 18th before the start of the championship, the 25-year-old Mubashir is expected to feature in the elite list of top eight cueists, for the first time in his career.

Muhammad Sajjad, having loads of international experience besides being a former national champion more than once, will also be leapfrogging alongside Ahsan Javaid, who was the other losing semi-finalist in the recently concluded snooker event.

On the other hand, Muhammad Bilal, Asjad Iqbal, Ali Haider, Babar Masih, Muhammad Ijaz and Agha Bilawal will be making downward journey following their disappointing performances in the championship.

Bilal, the reigning national champion, is certain to lose the top spot as he crashed in the preliminary rounds of the event. Babar and Bilawal were the other seeded cueists not to have progressed to the knockout rounds. Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir, who was third, is expected to retain his place in the top four despite having been knocked over in the quarter-finals.