Karachi
The final of first South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Snooker Championship will be all-Pakistan affair after both the cueists from Pakistan outclass their Indian opponents in the semi-finals of the championship in Dhaka.
The results also confirm Pakistan’s Gold medal in the inaugural edition of the tournament. Pakistan’s Asjad Iqbal defeated India’s Laxman Rawat 6-4 while Mohammad Bilal outclassed Sundeep Gulati without letting the Indian player winning a single frame.
In the first semi-final, Asjad made a great comeback after losing the first frame 38-78. He then won four consecutive frames with the score of 73-27, 116-14, 68-18 and 53-09 to take a 4-1 lead against Laxman, however, the Indian cueist attempted a comeback by winning 6th, 7th, and 8th frame.
However, Asjad displayed perfect control on cue in 9th and 10th frame to complete a 6-4 win with the score of 38-78, 73-27, 116-14, 68-18, 53-09, 43-101, 21-67, 32-63, 76-37, 74-40. He played a break of 87 in third frame. In second semi final, Mohammad Bilal sailed through easily against Sundeep Gulati without dropping a single frame.
Bilal downed Sundeep by 53-51, 100-17, 77-71, 78-38, 74-27, 62-11 to complete a 6-0 win. The final will be played at 12:00pm local time on Friday.—Agencies
