Haris faces Saqib in Under-21 Snooker final today

KARACHI: Haris Tahir and Mohammad Saqib stormed into the final by edging out Abdul Javaid and Abdul Raheem, respectively, in the all-Punjab semi-finals of the National Under-21 Snooker Championship 2016 here on Tuesday.

Haris, the national under-18 champion from Lahore, will lock horns with Saqib, who comes from Gujranwala, in the best-of-11-frame final at 11 am on Wednesday (today).

The semifinals, being best of nine-frame encounters, were keenly contested in which top seeded Abdul Javaid, hailing from Rawalpindi, and Abdul Raheem, another under-18 wonder coming from Rawalpindi, went down fighting.

Haris, having shown excellent form throughout the competition, managed to topple top seeded Javaid 5-3 with the frame scores of 63-47, 30-67, 74-55, 76-41, 56-77, 22-69, 65-53, 62-54.

Saqib brought all his reserve energy into play to elbow out Abdul Raheem 5-4 after a grueling nine-frame battle with the scores being 65-21, 8-88, 70-14, 33-70, 77-45, 47-74, 71-58, 37-61, 67-12.

A total of 36 cueists from all over the country, divided in six groups, had entered the championship.

The top two cueists from each of the six groups advanced to the knockout phase with the top four moving directly into the quarter-finals and the remaining eight battling it out in the round of 12.

Javaid, Haris, Saqib and Abdul Raheem qualified directly for the quarter-finals. Those making it to the round of 12 were Mohammad Adil, Abubakar Jamil, Muzammil Khan, Usama Haneef, Adil Zafar, Hamza Ali, Mohammad Ahmed and Abdul Raheem.

The winner of the championship will receive a cash award of Rs50,000 and the runner-up Rs25,000.

The losing semi-finalists will be given Rs15,000 each, while the losing quarter-finalists will be collecting Rs5,000 each.

Haris and Saqib will represent Pakistan in the Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship 2016 in Sri Lanka and the World Under-21 Snooker Championship 2016 in Belgium later this year.

Results: Last 12 Round:

Mohammad Adil (Bal) bt Abubakar Jamil (KP) 4-3 (36-56, 83-15, 72-39, 10-59, 89-25, 48-51, 59-29); Usama Haneef (Pjb) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-1 (1-0, 71-31, 55-16, 19-52, 63-62); Adil Zafar (Pjb) bt Hamza Ali (Sindh) 4-2 (83-35, 4-52, 72-45, 18-67, 65-19, 68-51); Abdul Raheem (Pjb) bt Mohammad Ahmed (Pjb) 4-2 (25-58, 70-29, 66-13, 51-65, 62-18, 69-44).

Quarter-finals: Abdul Javaid (Pjb) bt Muhammad Adil (Bal) 4-2 (32-61, 52-46, 56-64, 77-0, 73-46, 65-31); Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Usama Haneef (Pjb) 4-2 (36-68, 66-41, 40-61, 76-43(53), 62-22, 58-30); Mohammad Saqib (Pjb) bt Adil Zafar (Pjb) 4-1 (71-41, 53-18, 60-82, 61-19, 76-33); Abdul Raheem (Pjb) bt Mohammad Afzal (Pjb) 4-0 (69-62, 87-0, 60-14, 59-3).

Semi-finals: Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Abdul Javaid (Pjb) 5-3 (63-47, 30-67, 74-55, 76-41, 56-77, 22-69, 65-53, 62-54); Mohammad Saqib (Pjb) bt Abdul Raheem (Pjb) 5-4 (65-21, 8-88, 70-14, 33-70, 77-45, 47-74, 71-58, 37-61, 67-12).