Sajjad one step away from IBSF world champion title

The cueist made it to the final after beating world number two.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Muhammad Sajjad booked his place in the final of the IBSF World Championship with a thumping 7-3 win over world number two, China’s Zhao Xintong, in the semi-finals to avenge last year’s defeat against the same opponent.

Sajjad found extra motivation in the disappointing memories of last year, and reversed the result in style, chalking up two breaks of over 100 points.

The cueist will now face another Chinese, Yan Bingtao, who beat Thailand’s Kritsanut Lerstattayathorn 7-5, in the all-important final today.

By doing so, Sajjad became the fourth Pakistani to appear in the final after Muhammad Yousuf, Saleh Muhammad and Muhammad Asif.

“I’m over the moon to qualify for my first final and want to win,” Sajjad told The Express Tribune. “It’s a proud moment for me and my family and I want to become a world champion like Yousuf and Asif. I ask our fans to pray for me so that I can bring another title home.”

The Faisalabad-based cueist had a poor start to the game as he twice trailed by a frame, with Xintong first making it 1-0 and then 2-1.

But Sajjad rallied from there on, first drawing parity and then taking the attack to his opponent with some scintillating play, hitting big breaks and giving Xintong no chance to come back into the game.

Sajjad won four consecutive frames to go from 2-1 down to 5-2 up, but Xintong reduced the lead to two frames by winning the next one.

However, Sajjad made sure that he did not throw away his good work and finished off the match by winning the next two frames, triumphing with a scoreline of 16-74, 70-8, 53-64, 67-18, 103(67)-0, 98(98)-01, 124(120)-14, 09-105, 103(103)-29 and  53-11.

Sajjad revealed that Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association President Alamgir Sheikh had asked him to avenge last year’s loss. “Alamgir told me that I needed to win the semi-final at all costs and avenge last year’s defeat,” he said. “I’ve beaten him, but I can say that he is a top-class player and it was a treat to play against him again.”

The finalist also reserved praise for the support he has recieved in India. “There was massive crowd to witness the semi-finals and I’m humbled by the support I received from the Indian crowd in Bangalore because it was really heart-warming and lifted my morale,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the same sort of support in the final as well.” 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2014.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.