Sajjad, Sattar stroll past rivals in World Snooker

KARACHI: Pakistan’s duo of Mohammad Sajjad and Abdul Sattar extended their unbeaten run in the IBSF World Men’s Snooker Championship 2015 being held in the Egyptian city of Hurgada.
According to the results, made available by the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) here on Saturday, Sajjad and Sattar overcame their respective opponents on the fourth day to maintain their unbeaten record in the annual event, being organised by the International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF).
Interestingly Sajjad, Pakistan’s top ranked cueist in the World Championship by virtue of his exceptional performance in the last edition, faced stiffer challenge than compatriot Sattar, who is making his debut at the international level.
Sajjad, placed in Group N, overcame Issara Kachaiwong of Thailand 4-2 with the frame scores of 45-66, 55-63, 67-25, 65-63, 79-4, 74-12 to register his fourth successive victory in the tournament. He chalked up breaks of 79 and 57 in the last couple of frames after the match was locked at two-all.
In his earlier matches, he had defeated Tymoyr Hussain of Egypt 4-2, while Alaa Elsaed of Egypt and Ahmed Haitham of Yemen were demolished in straight frames.
Sattar was in awesome form too in the Group J as he whipped Jergrne Liedtke of Austria in straight frames with the scores of 67-20, 68-15, 95-12, 99-17. He signed off in style, recording a break of 56.
Like all his three compatriots, the debutant Sattar had also launched his campaign in the World Championship on a winning note when he blasted Mostafa Dargham of Egypt in straight frames in his opening game.
Mohammad Asif, who won the title in 2012, remained undefeated after three games in Group V, having overpowered Aaron Busuttil of Malta, Omar All of Iraq and Faisal Khan of India in his earlier matches.
Shahram Changezi, drawn in Group T, suffered the only defeat among the four Pakistani participants, having been edged out by Ryan Causton of England in his third game. He had earlier outwitted Thadeu Giannattasio Nobers of Brazil and Mohamed Hemdan of Egypt by identical scoreline of 4-1 in his first couple of matches.