Asif and Awais reach Asian team championship semis

It was a big day for Pakistan at the Asian 6 Red & Team Championship 2025 on Friday as four top cueists in two teams, Pakistan 1 and Pakistan 2 contended for the semifinal spot in Colombo on Friday.

However, it was the three-time IBSF World Champion Muhammad Asif paired with Awais Munir who emerged as the winners from the quarterfinal encounter.

They defeated Muhammad Sajjad and Shahid Aftab in Pakistan 2 side 3-1, only dropping the second frame in the best-of-five match.

Asif and Awais took the first frame conveniently 74(52)-53(53) but Sajjad and Shahid levelled the match in the second frame, taking it 66-27. But Asif and Awais made sure that they make any mistakes in the following two frames 61-22, 78(62)-1 to seal the win.

Pakistan 1 will play Malaysia in the semifinal on Saturday.

The championship began on June 22nd and it will conclude on Sunday.

Earlier, Pakistan 2 were defeated by China 3-1, whereas Pakistan 1 defeated hosts Sri Lanka 1 3-1 in their first match of the day, and then Pakistan 2 defeated Sri Lankan 2 in their second match on Friday before booking the place in the all-Pakistan quarterfinal.

Today, Asif will be looking to win the championship to make up for his defeat in the Asian 6 Red men's championship, where he lost in the semifinal to Malaysia's Thor Chun Leong on Wednesday, finishing with a bronze medal.

Meanwhile, India will be taking on Hong Kong 1 in the first semifinal of the day on Saturday.

India defeated Qatar 3-0 in their quarterfinal and Hong Kong 1 outplayed Bahrain 3-0 to progress into the last-four round.