Shahzad, Shahid to meet in snooker final today

Pakistan's top cueist outplays Sajjad in the semi-final.

KARACHI:
Pakistan top cueist Imran Shahzad defeated Mohammad Sajjad 6-2 in the semi-final of the 36th National Snooker Championship 2011 being held at the Karachi Gymkhana while Mohammad Shahid outplayed Sultan Mohammad 6-3 to book a place in today’s final against Shahzad.

In the first match of the day, Shahzad took an early lead, winning the first two frames 78-6 and 85-46. However, Sajjad retaliated in the third, winning it 80-0 with a break of 70 following which Shahzad took the fourth frame 72-48. Although Sajjad hit back in the next frame with 88-16, Shahzad managed to consolidate his lead in the sixth frame 62-17 and sealed the win with 75-21, 63-24 wins in the seventh and eighth frames.

“It was a great match and proved why Shahzad is the top player in the country,” former Pakistan number one and current Asian number two cueist Sajjad told The Express Tribune. “For me the fourth frame was crucial as I started out with a 47-0 lead but then Shahzad struck the break of 65 and I couldn’t recover.”

Shahid outplays Sultan

Meanwhile, in the other semi-final, Shahid took an early lead by winning the first four frames 52-43, 64-4, 86-63, 67-58, while Sultan replied in the following three frames 108-4, 64-40, 67-39 to make the score 4-3. However, Shahid emerged as the winner when he bagged the last two frames 70-37, 58-46 to secure a place in the final.


The competition that started on January 31 but the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) postponed the semi-final and final by a week.

The match between Shahzad and Sajjad was a major attraction of the day, as the two players will also be representing Pakistan in the 6-Red Asian Championship that will begin from February 13 in Thailand.

While Shahzad and Sajjad relish their performance in the National Championship, they fear that they might not get enough time to practice for the 6-red championship. “I have two days after the final to prepare for the 6-red championship. It’s great that I am in good form but I do feel a little nervous about the format and its ever-changing rules,” said Shahzad.

Sajjad echoed Shazad’s concerns, saying that the national championship did not help him with the preparation for the 6-red championship and the delay between the quarter-finals and semi-finals will have negative a effect on their game in Thailand.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2011.
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