Mixed fortunes for Majid on opening day

Pakistan cueist wins one, loses one match at U21 Asian Championship.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Mohammad Majid Ali experienced mixed fortunes at the start of the 14th Asian U21 Snooker Championship campaign yesterday, clinching victory in one match while losing the other on the opening day of the event being played in Indore, India.

China’s Zhou Yelong chalked up big breaks to defeat Majid 4-1 in his opening match of Group D with frame scores of 62-28, 124(100)-77, 77-84, 89-34 and 100-0. However, Majid was quick to make amends for his initial loss as he thumped Thailand’s Boonyarit Keattikul with a similar score-line from his first loss.

Majid won with frame scores of 57-09, 83-14, 97(96)-0, 01-61 and 67-33.

The Pakistan player is in a six-man group and needs to ensure that he does not lose another match in order to advance to the knockout phase.

Meanwhile, Humza Akbar, who is also representing Pakistan in the event, is placed in a five-man Group C out of which two players are from India.

Humza, who was initially named as a standby for the Asian event, recently created a stir by winning the 38th National Snooker Championship ahead of several top players of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2^nd, 2013.