Ahsan, Hamza to battle today for Under-17 snooker title

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

August 03, 2021

KARACHI: The cueists from Punjab dominated the knockout round of the Seagold National Junior Under-17 Snooker Championship 2021 at the PSB Complex in Lahore on Sunday.

According to the details made available by the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), all the four quarter-finalists from the host province defeated their opponents. Later, Ahsan Ramzan and Hamza Ilyas forced their way into the final.

In the quarter-finals, held during the morning session, Ahsan trounced Jahanzaib Jahangir of Balochistan in straight frames with the scores of 93-5, 61-16, 63-36, 80-4, firing breaks of 60 and 80 in the first and last frames, respectively.

Zubair Tahir of Punjab whacked Hasnain Akhtar of Sindh 4-1 with the frame scores of 85-15, 65-31, 6-60, 63-49, 71-8. Muzammil Shaikh, also from Punjab, overpowered Muzammil Malik from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4-2 with the scores of 47-64, 41-51, 50-17, 48-17, 68-66, 81-61.

Hamza was awarded a walkover against Haroon Saleem of Sindh. In the semi-finals, which followed in the afternoon session, Ahsan edged out Zubair Tahir 4-2 with the frame scores of 57-46, 26-56, 53-18, 67-41, 8-56, 64-40.

Hamza blanked Muzammil Shaikh in straight frames with the scores of 70-57, 57-32, 66-35, 48-10. The best-of-nine-frame final between Ahsan and Hamza is scheduled to get under way at 11 am on Tuesday (today). Besides collecting a handsome purse of Rs50,000, the winner will also earn the right to represent the country in the IBSF World Under-17 Snooker Championship 2021 to be staged later this year.

Below 55 Kg

Gold, Usman, Champions Karate Club

Silver, Muhammad Adeel, Unique Karate Club

Bronze, Ali Khan, The Knowledge Home Karate Centre

Bronze, M Azeem Tahir, Karate Club

Individual Kata

Gold, Musab Ahmed, Unique Karate Club

Silver, Musa Tariq Kashif, Karate Club

Bronze, Umar Munawar, Champions Karate Club

Bronze, Aliyan Umar, East Karate Club

Team Kata

Gold, Unique Karate Club