Saleh wins as Khurram, Sajjad suffer defeats in Asian Snooker

DUBAI (APP) - Pakistan cueists have disappointing second day in 24th Asian Snooker Championship as Khurram Agha and Muhammad Sajjad suffered defeats but Saleh Muhammad registered second win on Sunday. Second seed Khurram in shocking result went down to Muhammad Nadir Sultan of Afghanistan 4-1 in a dismal showing. Because of longer duration Khurram's match was stopped by referee to accommodate second session matches on schedule at Dubai Police Officers Club Hall. Khurram was trailing 3-1 at the break and instantly lost the fifth frame to give Sultani - a former Pakistan National Pool Championship runner-up an upset 26-59, 58-62, 16-58, 71-63, 01-70. Reigning national champion Muhammad Sajjad Rana featuring in his first international competition, recovered from 0-3 down to make it 2-3 against unranked local cueman Eissa Al Syed before losing 65-52, 72-03, 57-47, 41-62, 43-65, 75-23. Sajjad, a highly talented player Sargodha struggled with his cue control as Essa gained control with flowing potting and positional after little hiccups emerge winner. Former world championship runner-up Saleh Muhammad registered his second win in group A when he dropped the penultimate frame against UAEs Salim Ali Salim before chalking 4-1 victory. Saleh, who stole the limelight on the opening day with a record-breaking 147 break, was not in his strides as he was unable to raise any major break in his win. Earlier, on Saturday night, top seed Yasin Merchant of India brought Pakistan's Saleh Muhammad on the earth after his magnificent break of 147 in the afternoon session, with a 4-2 victory. Saleh, who was roaming around for five hours at venue after his winning his match because of delayed opening ceremony, started poorly by dropping the opening two frames. Though, he fought back to level the score 2-all. But Yasin blanked Saleh 85-0 with a break of 61 and sealed the fate of the match by another break of 61. Second seed Khurram Agha launched his campaign in the competition with straightforward 4-0 victory over Yusuke Tanaka of Japan. However, Khurram failed to produced his best during the match mustering a break of 52 in the final frame.2003 World Amateur Champion Pankaj Advani smashed a superb break of 129 in the opening frame while crushing Omar Ali Alajani of Saudia Arabia 4-1. Advani good break-building touch as he also made the breaks he got the breaks of 65, 41, and 65 during the match. Third century break (107) of the opening day was raised by Thai Star Noppodil Sangnil while registered an emphatic 4-0 win over Lin Su Hung of Chinese Taipei. Following are results. Saleh Muhammad (Pakistan) bt Salim Ali Salim (UAE) 4-1 (65-32, 95-19,45-60, 64-15, 56-26) Zhang Anda (China) bt Hwang Chin Ho (Korea) 4-1 (93-16, 80-08, 19-62, 94-01, 113-02), Passakorn Suwannwat (Thailand) bt Khaled Ali Awais (Kuwait) 4-1 (46-48, 59-24, 70-0, 73-37, 70-47) Noppodol Sangnil (Thailand) bt Lin Su Hung (Chinese Taipei) 4-0 (74-66, 69-67, 55-49, 108-10), Fung Kowk (Hong Kong) bt Salim Bin Dihban (UAE) 4-0 (55-51, 95-12, 63-19, 71-51), A. Bulajiang (China) bt Hisham Al Saqar (Bahrain) 4-2 (46-68, 7209, 94-22, 64-38, 48-68, 74-43), Pankaj Advani (India) bt Omar Ali Alajiani (Saudi Arabia) 4-1 (137-01, 97-0, 83-59, 65-69, 48-47), Abdullah Al Obaidy (Jordan) bt Ngyyen Nhat Thanh (Vietnam) 4-0 (78-14, 59-41, 69-25, 69-24),Mohsen Aziz (Qatar) bt Ahmed Abdul Qadar (UAE) 4-0 (63-09, 81-0,84-40, 39-05), Susantha Botju (Sri Lanka) bt Khalid Al Damen (Jordan) 4-2 (72-23, 48-51, 65-47, 72-01, 56-09, 84-30), Muhammad Nadir Sultani (Afghanistan) bt Khurram Agha (Pakistan) 4-1 Lai Chee Wei (Malaysia) bt Abdulla Aseeri (Saudia Arbia) 4-1 (81-06,75-01, 64-70, Jing Long (China) bt Lee Po-Hsien (Chinese Taipei) 4-2 (52-61, 62-51, 02-70, 72-36, 95-0, 68-20), Habib Subah (Bahrain) bt Au Chi Wai (Hong Kong) 4-2 (17-50,47-70, 60-03, 49-38, 91-01, 75-47), Nguyen Nhat Thanh (Vietnam) bt Salim Ali Salim (UEA) 4-2 (26-63, 69-36, 75-37, 30-64, 26-61, 56-16, Yasin Merchant (India) bt Saleh Muhammad (Pakistan) 4-2 (69-13, 72-32, 09-92, 29-98, 85-0, 72-08) Au Chi Wai (Hong Kong) bt Zhang Anda (China) 4-2 (67-32, 66-55, 38-63, 04-87, 61-47, 65-0), Khalid Al Damen (Jordan) walkover Obaid Khalifa (UAE), Moo Ken Hoo (Malaysia) Susantha Boteju (Sri Lanka) 4-0 (68-54, 69-23, 71-48, 72-21), Pankaj Advani (India) bt Umer A Kojah (Syria) 4-1 (68-23, 73-01, 81-12, 71-10), Muhammad Mustufa Shehab (UAE) bt Kim Do Hoon (Korea) 4-0 (76-01, 110-09, 77-50, 84-22), Khurram Agha (Pakistan) bt Yuske Tanaka (Japan) 4-0 (76-38, 68-14, 64-29, 73-3.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt