Three time world snooker champion of Pakistan Muhammad Asif once again showed his prowess to win the SAARC snooker championship when he defeated Sri Lankan Irshath Thaha in the final to win the Late M.J.M Lafir Memorial trophy at the Moors SC billiard table on Friday.
Asif the reigning world champion won by five frames to nil the nine frame final and completely outclassed his Sri Lankan opponent .From the beginning Asif used his experience to win the title in great style .
Apart from the trophy Asif the champion received a cash award of 2500 dollars and runner up Thaha received 1500 dollars while the semi final winners received 500 dollars each. Kamal Chawla of India was awarded a cash prize of 250 dollars for the highest break of 125 of the four day championship.
Earlier in the semi finals Sri Lanka’s Ishrath Thaha and Pakistan’s Muhammad Asif came out winners by the identical winning margin of five frames to three in the nine frame encounter. The two cueists underwent some anxious moments with Thaha fighting to win with two breaks of 66 in the seventh and eight frames which assured his win against Ankit Man of Nepal who earlier featured in another thrilling quarter final encounter against Sri Lanka’s Susantha Boteju which he won by four frames to three in the seven frame clash.
Muhammad Asif too did not have it easy against his compatriot Muhammad Naseem Alther. In a ding dong battle the two shared honours but Asif kept his cool but was given a shocker by Akther who made a break of 102 in the seventh frame but Asif sealed the game with a comfortable eighth frame win
Results
Quarter Finals: Muhammad Naseem Akhter (Pakistan) beat Kamal Chawla (India) 4-2 (69/17,
16/61, 95/1, 32/65, 72/13, 66/16). Ankit Man (Nepal) beat Susantha Boteju (Sri Lanka) 4-3 (76/42, 26/81, 73/57, 23/49, 26/67, 81/37, 46/42).
Semi Finals: Ishrath Thaha (Sri Lanka) beat Ankit Man (Nepal) 5-3 (86/50, 56/69, 0/88, 97/23, 73/24, 27/65, 82/9, 112/5). Muhammad Asif (Pakistan) beat Muhammad Naseem Akhter (Pakistan) 5-3 (21.60, 53/30, 76/50, 37/91, 81/49, 59/22, 0/131, 72/15).
Final: Muhammad Asif (Pakistan (Pakistan) beat Irshath Thaha (Sri Lanka) 5-0 (99/3, 73/46, 85/38, 109/6, 74/8)
(Daily News)
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