Bilal to challenge Asif in National snooker championship final
Former National champions, second seed Mohammad Asif and third seed Mohammad Bilal sent their opponents packing to setup final of Jubilee Insurance 43rd National Snooker Championship at the Karachi Gymkhana.
Both players from Punjab clear their ways and through to the final of the championship as Mohammad Asif downs Asian junior championships runner-up and wildcard holder Mohammad Majid by 6-3 in the best of 11 frames second semifinal while Bilal routed eight seed Babar Masih by 6-2 in the first semifinal.
Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Bilal will face each other in best of 15 final.
Mohammad Bilal displayed outstanding performance as he stamped victory against a week opponent by 58-43, 54-25, 68-21, 36-62, 22-90, 81-46, 65-57, 75-21. Bilal made into the finals of National snooker championships for the second time after 2016 and fourth of his career.
He lost twice to Mohammad Asif in the ranking finals, first in the Langnese ranking in 2013 and the other was NBP cup in 2016.
In the first semifinal, Bilal straight away won three frames lost some control over the game as Babar won the fourth and fifth frame with a big margin. As the score came 3-2, Bilal bounced back and won the next three back-to-back frames to win the match.
36 years old, Mohammad Asif face a bit of resistance from the wildcard holder Majid Ali but Asif came back strongly to win the match by 111-16, 85-22, 78-23, 58-15, 35-47, 24-66, 33-77, 55-19, 69-5.
Asif got the honor of playing second back to back final in the domestic circuit as he had won the third and last ranking event in Oct last year. Mohammad Asif played breaks of 61, 78 in the second and third frames and Majid also replied with 63 in the seventh frame.
Asif won four frames back to back to make Majid in a fix but Majid kept his cool and overcomes strongly as the resilient Majid reduces the deficit 4-3. After losing 3 frames, Asif came once again in a commanding position as he won the last two games to make his way clear for the final match.
Results:
Semifinals
| 1 | Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) | def. | Babar Masih (Punjab) | 6-2 (58-43, 54-25, 68-21, 36-62, 22-90, 81-46, 65-57, 75-21) |
| 2 | Mohammad Asif (Punjab) | def. | Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) | 6-3 (111-16, 85-22, 78-23, 58-15, 35-47, 24-66, 33-77, 55-19, 69-5) |
