Mohammad Asif won 3rd National Ranking Snooker Championship
Former world amateur champion Mohammad Asif coasted to 8-5 victory over Zulfiqar A Qadir in the final of the Jubilee Insurance 3rd National Ranking Snooker Championship to land his first domestic title of the year at Karachi Gymkhana.
In the match Asif notched up two impressive breaks of 101 and 143 in the fifth and 10th frames. Interestingly, both the cueists were from group ‘D’ and Asif had won the league match against Qadir 4-2 that also included sterling break of 141 in the sixth frame on the opening day. The 143 break on Friday is perhaps a record in any national ranking event.
It took Asif nearly six hours including a 30-minute break to register 47-80, 64-47, 71-58, 9-71, 101-5, 54-45, 45-52, 76-74, 57-10, 143-0, 10-61, 41-72, 62-51 victory over his opponent in the best of 15 frames duel.
The triumph also helped Asif leap seven places and attain second place in the national ranking chart behind top player Asjad Iqbal, who despite losing the semi-final, retained his slot. By virtue of No 1 and 2, both Asif and Asjad have qualified for the next month’s IBSF World Snooker Championship to be held at Doha, Qatar. Reigning junior world champion Mohammad Naseem Akhtar had already received a wildcard entry for the event.
The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) also announced the name of cueist and three master’s (over 40) for Doha. The Team included Asjad Iqbal, Muhammad Asif, Mubashir Raza, and Muhammad Naseem Akhtar (Men's), Imran Shehzad, Muhammad Yousaf, and Khurram Agha (Master's). Munawar Hussain Sheikh will be official.
Asif received a purse of Rs.70, 000 and winner’s trophy while Qadir earned Rs.40, 000 and runner-up trophy from the chief guest Tahir Ahmed, Managing Director of Jubilee General Insurance, at the presentation that followed the final. Asif also received highest break award of Rs5, 000. Cash prizes of Rs.165, 000 were disbursed among the cueists.
