Asif, who had won 4-2 in the previous round against India’s Sundeep Gulati, will now take on Thailand’s Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn with a semi-finals berth on the line.
Vahedi started strong and twice led by a frame as Asif lost the first and third frames. In fact, it was a much closer affair than the final scoreline suggests as five of the six frames went down to the wire.
Shehzad downs Lim to move into next round
Down 2-1, Asif then showed his experience, winning three frames on the trot as he clinched the match 41-54, 53-19, 31-76, 71-56, 89-42 and 71-40.
Meanwhile, Kritsanut ended Mohammad Bilal’s campaign with a 4-1 thrashing in their quarter-finals clash.
Once again, the 4-1 scoreline does not do justice to the grit showed by Bilal, who lost the third and fourth frames by just a few points as Kritsanut prevailed 76-34, 08-80, 65-58, 76-51(66) and 69-16.
Asian Snooker Championship: Asif, Sajjad, Bilal cruise into last 32
In the previous round, Bilal had struck a century break (104) and won 4-1 against Philippines’ Jefrey Roda.
Earlier, Sohail Shehzad threw away a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 against Bahrain’s Habib Subah in their last-32 match.
But the biggest disappointment of them all was Mohammad Sajjad as he lost 4-3 in his last-32 match against Iran’s Sohail Vahedi, who triumphed 28-74, 61-14, 42-54, 76-53, 33-54, 79-0 and 63-32.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2016.
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