National snooker championship: Asif, Sajjad register comfortable wins

Cueists to face Bilal and Saim respectively in semi-finals.

KARACHI: Former IBSF world champion Muhammad Asif and former Asian number two Muhammad Sajjad registered comfortable wins on Sunday to progress to the semi-finals of the NBP National Ranking Snooker Championship, being played at the NBP Sports Complex in Karachi.

Sajjad outplayed Muhammad Faheem 5-2 and also hit the highest break of the day (101) in the sixth frame to consolidate his win, while Asif outclassed Imran Shehzad 5-0 in his match.

Meanwhile, Abu Saim and Muhammad Bilal were the other two semi-finalists, who defeated their respective opponents, Shahid Aftab and Abdul Sattar, 5-3 each.

While Sajjad may have enjoyed a considerably easy win in the quarter-finals, he believes he will be tested by Saim, whom he considers the most improved player in the tournament.

“It’s not going to be an easy match, but it will be an interesting one,” third seed Sajjad told The Express Tribune. “Saim is a different player in this tournament. He hasn’t been in good form since the last five years but he is rapidly improving. I’m looking forward to the game.”

Sajjad, meanwhile, also praised the other semi-finalist, Bilal, who will be facing Asif in the last-four match, terming him as the most impressive emerging talent in the local circuit.

The national championship was featuring the top 31 cueists in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2015.

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