Akbar reaches championship semis

Youngster triumphs 5-3 against mentor in national snooker.

KARACHI:

Defending champion Hamza Akbar mastered his act, beating mentor and former world champion Mohammad Asif 5-3 in the 39th Jubilee Insurance National Snooker Championship quarter-final at the Karachi Gymkhana.

In the initial stage, Asif led the game 2-1, but was put off by the younger cueist’s resilience as Akbar went on to win with scores of 81-39, 22-60, 24-79, 74-57, 66-23, 43-79, 82-08 and 97-01 (89).

The youngster will now take on Asjad Iqbal in the semis while the other last-four match is to be played between Mohammad Asif Toba and Sohail Shehzad.

“It feels great to register a victory against a world champion who is also my mentor,” Hamza told The Express Tribune.

“I knew it would be tough playing against Asif, but I kept my nerves in check to overcome the odds. The win became even more special when he applauded my efforts.”

The Faisalabad-based cueist further stated that even though he had crossed the most challenging hurdle, his work was not finished yet — his title defence was still the main aim in the championship.

“The past few months have been difficult for me due to a hand injury, and my performances were not up to the mark either. However, I’m more content with my form now; my hand and eye coordination has improved as well.”

In the other quarter-finals of the day, Sohail Shehzad stunned Imran Shehzad 5-2 as he triumphed with a scoreline of 89-33, 62-65, 68-79, 62-16, 91-25, 61-17 and 95-01 (82).

Meanwhile, comeback player Toba had little trouble defeating Mohammad Bilal as he won with a scoreline of 91-29, 0-90, 67-34, 36-61, 72-49, 70-05 and 61-47, while Asjad beat 5-3 against Abdul Sattar.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2014.

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