Aftab humbles Doherty at snooker World Cup

Pakistan number one helps team post 3-2 win over Ireland.

KARACHI:

Shahid Aftab gave ample proof of being the country’s top-ranked cueist as he beat Ireland’s Ken Doherty and Fergal O’Brian in his singles encounters to help Pakistan register a 3-2 win in the first match of the PTT-EGAT Snooker World Cup underway in Thailand.

Pakistan’s third win came in a doubles encounter when Aftab and Mohammad Sajjad combined to beat the Irish pair in the Group A match. Sajjad lost both his singles matches.

The match got underway with Doherty, the world number 29, dominating Sajjad with a break of 111 to set the tone for the rest of the game. However, Aftab, who faced O’Brian next, hit a break of 74 to keep Pakistan’s interest alive.

After gaining some momentum, Aftab and Sajjad pulled off a close win against the Irish pair in the doubles match to gain a 2-1 lead, heading into the fourth game.

Aftab, who shook off his nervousness after the win in the first match, defeated the 41-year-old Doherty 74-16 as Pakistan clinched the match. Sajjad played the consolation match against O’Brian, who hit the second century break of the game, to make the scoreline 3-2.

“I was very nervous at the start,” Aftab told The Express Tribune. “But playing against Doherty wasn’t half as tough as I thought.

“After watching Sajjad in the first match, I went in against O’Brian thinking that I have nothing to lose and all the nervousness disappeared. In my match against Doherty, I just made sure that I wasn’t missing out on any opportunities.”

Doherty said it was disappointing after both Ireland players hit century breaks in the match. “We’re very disappointed to lose but it’s amazing that we both made a century break each but lost the match 3-2,” Doherty was quoted as saying by the www.worldsnooker.com website.

“Pakistan and India always have good cueists and they have a tradition of producing good players over the years.”

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Snooker and Billiards Association (PBSA) President Alamgir Sheikh praised Aftab after the cueist registered a win over former world champion Doherty. He said that Aftab had also played the quarter-finals of the Asian Snooker Championship two months ago and winning against one of the best cueists in the world is a sign of progress.

In other matches, Brazil defeated Belgium 3-2 in Group C, while Thailand’s first team outplayed Afghanistan 3-2 and Poland beat Hong Kong 3-1 in Group D.

Pakistan now face Germany’s pair of Patrick Einsle and Lasse Munstermann today.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2011.