Pakistan campaign in World Snooker ends as Asif falls

KARACHI: Pakistan’s campaign in the IBSF World Men’s Snooker Championship 2015, being held in the Egyptian city of Hurgada, came to an end with the exit of Mohammad Asif in the pre-quarter-finals on Friday.
According to the results released by Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), Asif was edged out by Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn of Thailand who won the pre-quarter-final tie by 5-4 with the frame scores of 89-33, 95-29, 124-7, 31-70, 63-25, 38-74, 12-113, 13-44, 86-14.
The 26-year-old shattered Asif’s dreams of achieving a rare feat of capturing the crown more than one time as the 2012 world champion was unable to turn the tide decisively after having staged a forceful comeback.
Lertsattayathor, who was reseeded at the top among the 88 knockout qualifiers, appeared coasting towards a cakewalk win in the best-of-nine-frame contest when he pocketed the first three frames comfortably.
He drew the first blood with a break of 54 in the opening frame and chalked up successive breaks of 64 and 59 in the third frame to inch closer towards a place in the quarter-finals.
The momentum was with Asif, who had won three frames on a trot to make it four-all after being 1-4 down, when the decisive ninth frame began.
He was running high on confidence, having compiled a break of 72 under intense pressure. But he didn’t get much opportunity to capitalise on his winning streak as Lertsattayathor settled the issue with a sensational break of 86 in the ninth and final frame.
Asif’s defeat meant that Pakistan will be returning empty handed from the World Championship for the first time since 2011. Mohammad Sajjad and Abdul Sattar had crashed out in the round of 32.
Shahram Changezi was eliminated in the round of 88.
All four Pakistani cueists performed creditably in the league matches, remaining unbeaten.
Asif won the title in 2012. Sajjad made a greater impact in the following two years, ending as a bronze medalist in 2013 and silver medalist in 2014.