Majid, Amir crash out of IBSF event

Two Pakistan players’ run ends at World U21 Snooker Championship.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Mohammad Majid Ali and Amir Tariq crashed out of the IBSF World U21 Snooker Championship as they lost their prequarter-finals after being outplayed by Chinese players in Beijing, China.

Majid was defeated by Zhang Yong 5-3 with frame scores of 72-34, 37-84, 81-43, 40-72, 68-29, 27-102, 75-8 and 76-49.

Compatriot Amir too lost in similar fashion against 13-year-old Yuan Sijun – who had earlier defeated Humza Akbar 5-4 – despite being 2-0 up at one stage. Yuan triumphed with frame scores of 52-71, 15-62, 125(125)-0, 76-38, 54-14, 72-0, 9-74 and 65-24.

Earlier in the last-32-match, Majid had won against China’s Niu ZhUang 5-3 with a scoreline of 68-34, 20-67(76), 77-0, 56-24, 32-79, 38-54, 61-57 and 60-08, while Amir defeated Thailand’s Chinnapat Kamsad after a tense nine-frame match.



Amir came out on top by 72-08, 50-57, 9-97(53), 43-65, 48-37, 49-62, 72-33, 73-56 and 61-09.

Humza was unlucky to lose out to Sijun as he had made a miraculous recovery towards the end, hitting back from 3-1 down to go 4-3 up. However, Sijun held his nerves and won the last two frames to seal victory.

Sijun triumphed with frame scores of 40-75, 57-46, 59-49, 62(58)-31, 43-64, 26-62, 38-67, 53-43 and 65-60.

Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association President Alamgir Sheikh, who is in China with the Pakistan team, stressed that the matches against the hosts were tough.

“Our players were defeated by the Chinese because their standard is very high,” Sheikh told The Express Tribune.

“The trio of Majid, Amir and Humza did raise their game, but the cueists from China were on a different level. Nevertheless, it was a great experience for the players and I’m sure they have learned a lot from this trip.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2013.

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