Toba showed that his talent was not only limited in the domestic circuit, as he progressed to round two after defeating Alshamsi. PHOTO: FILE PBSA
KARACHI: Asjad Iqbal and Muhammad Asif Toba qualified for the second round of the 2014 Asian Snooker Championship with big wins on Sunday in Al Fujairah.
Asjad defeated the Asian Champion, UAE’s Mohamed Shahab, 4-2 in his second match of the tournament.
Asjad took the first frame 89-38 but Shahab hit back in the second one with 53-21. However, Asjad bounced back by securing the following two frames 72-63 and 59-5 to lead 3-1.
The local favourite went onto secure another frame 65-37, however, Asjad took a 4-2 win with a 60-45 finish.
Earlier, Asjad defeated Korea’s Chulho Hwang 4-0 in his first Group P match on Saturday.
He will now play his last group match against Malaysia’s Keen Hoo Moh on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, national champion Toba also surprised his opponents with his performance as he defeated another local cueist Abdulrahman Alshamsi 4-1.
This is Toba’s comeback in the international circuit after almost two years.
He continued his winning form on day two of the championship in Group F, by comfortably securing the opening two frames 73-13, 63-20, before Alshamsi replied in the third one with 67-48. However, Toba tamed his opponent to finish the match 89-32, 56-19.
Earlier, he had defeated Syria’s Haitham Khalil 4-0.
However, Pakistan suffered a loss as the country’s emerging star Hamza Akber lost his opening match 4-2 to Iran’s Soheil Vahedi.
Our boys are playing well: Alamgir Shaikh
The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker President Alamgir Shaikh said that the cueists are performing well.
“Our boys are playing to the best of their ability and I’m glad Toba and Asjad have made it through to the next round,” Shaikh told The Express Tribune.
“Now I really want Akber to pick up the pace. He is young and also the better one among the rest.” Shaikh added that 21-year-old’s defeat does not worry him.
“Vahedi was favorite to win anyway,” said Shaikh.
“He is extremely experienced, so of course Akber had a tough time. But he can win his remaining matches.”
In Monday’s fixtures, Toba will play Kuwait’s Meqdad Taqi and Akber will try to bounce back in the tournament against Hong Kong’s Tang Ho Alan Lin.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2014.
Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ