Snooker: Asif aiming to restore lost pride

Former world champion reaches last-eight in national event.

KARACHI: Former world champion Mohammad Asif said he was aiming to win the 39th Jubilee Insurance National Snooker Championship being played at the Karachi Gymkhana, to restore his lost pride after losing his crown. 

The 31-year-old cueist has moved into the last-eight stage after beating Abu Saim 5-1 in their last-16 encounter.

He won with a scoreline of 87-39, 67-11, 37-68, 72-48, 66-22 and 95-34 and will face next face his student Hamza Akbar in a nine-frame contest.



“My aim is to win this championship to keep myself motivated after losing the world crown,” Asif told The Express Tribune.

“I want to keep pushing myself to win more international titles, and it’s important to keep the momentum going. I’m not taking any of my matches lightly because the snooker circuit has become tougher as everybody is improving and I expect a good match against Hamza.”

Hamza, who is learning his trade from Asif, got the better of Mohammad Majid Ali, winning 5-2.

Majid had recently won the national junior championship and was aiming to win the senior event as well, but his show was cut-short by Hamza, who won by 27-66, 67-12, 86-0, 92-45, 06-73, 67-37 and 64-32.

Asif emphasised that both Hamza and Majid are competitive players, but they need to bring consistency in their game. He revealed that he has been closely working with the duo to help them improve their form and mould their mindsets for bigger events.

In other quarter-final matches, Imran Shehzad will be up against Sohail Shehzad while Mohammad Asif Toba and Mohammad Bilal will go head to head for a place in the last-four. Asjad Iqbal will lock horns with Abdul Sattar.

In a clash of in-form players, Imran Shehzad outplayed Mohammad Sajjad 5-1. The loss of Sajjad is an upset considering his recent form as he has been firing all cylinders, helping Pakistan win the World Team Championship and then claiming a bronze in the IBSF Individual World Championship. Imran triumphed with scoreline of 0-112(50), 53-50, 61-10, 72-0, 57-46 and 65-30.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2014.

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