Snooker: Asif thrashes Iqbal in final

KARACHI: Pakistan’s top-ranked cueist Muhammad Asif brushed aside Asjad Iqbal 7-1 to win the Lagnese 4th Ranking Snooker Cup yesterday. Iqbal had beaten Asif in the third ranking event and was sent to attend a month-long coaching clinic in Bangkok but none of it worked in front of Asif, who showed his class in a one-sided finale to remind all that he still was the best player in country. He thrashed Iqbal 73-36, 67-61, 22-68, 87-0, 61-17, 66-25, 81-41 and 83-15. Both cueists will be representing Pakistan in the upcoming 4th IBSF World Snooker Championship to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria. Asif received Rs 70,000 while Iqbal got Rs 40,000. Loosing semi-finalists were given Rs 30,000 each, while those who bowed out in the quarter-finals got Rs 20,000 each. "I wanted to maintain my position at the summit at the end of this event which I have achieved," Asif told The Express Tribune. "It gives extra motivation for a big event. I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't sent for coaching clinic which spurred me on.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2012.