Asif regains world snooker title

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif on Saturday won the IBSF World Snooker Championship (amateur) after beating Jeffrey Roda of the Philippines 8-5 in the final in Antalya (Turkey).

This is Asif’s second IBSF world title. He won the same title in 2012 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf had also won the IBSF World Snooker Championship in 1994.

The country’s number one cueist, who remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, kept the momentum in the final as well to outclass his opponent.

Asif won the first three frames to take an early 3-0 lead with scores of 68-35, 88-00 and 69-1. Roda then made a comeback but could not overcome Asif’s lead.

The Filipino made a break of 105 in the fifth frame to minimise his deficit to 3-2, only to get it increased before the break in the final as Asif made it 5-2 by the end of the seventh frame. The Pakistani continued his form after the break to extend his advantage to 6-2.

Roda played a break of 71 in the ninth frame, but Asif responded well in the 10th to keep his lead.

With the Pakistani cueist just one frame away from his title, Roda gave Asif a scare and broke his momentum by winning back-to-back frames — making the scores 7-5.

But the 13th frame ended up being the decisive one. Roda conceded the game with pink and black balls remaining on the table — Asif was leading by 17 points.

Asif completed the best-of-15 frames victory with a scoreline of 8-5 in less than five hours with scores of 68-35, 88-0, 69-17, 28-73, 5-118, 93-0, 69-1, 72-57, 10-93, 77-04, 21-65, 54-66 and 68-51.

In a message sent to the media following his win, Asif said that he was dedicating this title to the people of Pakistan and the people of Kashmir.

“This wasn’t an easy tournament for me, but I was focused to win for my country,” the champion said.