Snooker: Toba, Shehzad cruise into 2nd round

Cueists win 3 out of 4 matches in World Championships.

KARACHI: Pakistan cruised into the second round of the IBSF World Championships after Mohammad Asif Toba defeated England’s Michael Wild 4-2 and Australia’s Vinnie Calabrese 4-1, and Imran Shehzad convincingly beat Ireland’s Mark Tuite 4-2 in Bangalore.

Toba had a rough start, losing to Afghanistan’s Rais Khan Sen Zahi 4-2, but made up for it by crushing Germany’s Karl-Heinz Beggel 4-0 in his next match. He now heads the group after winning three matches out of four. His final-match win included a break of 137 that helped him win the fourth frame against Wild.

Similarly, Shehzad won three out of four matches to qualify for the second round as he beat Tanzania’s Arjun Lavingia 4-0 on Tuesday. His only loss came to Krzysztof Wróbel.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2011.