Temperature takes toll: Changezi bows out of World Championship

Pakistan cueist beaten in last-88 as a Scottish player faints due to heat

KARACHI: Egypt’s searing heat got the better of Pakistani cueist Shahram Changezi as he was knocked out of the IBSF World Individual Snooker Championship after losing 4-2 to Saudi Arabia’s Omar Alajlani in their last-88 match in Hurghada.

Changezi had finished second in Group T after winning three of his five matches.

The Islamabad-based player was leading his last-88 match 2-1 before he lost concentration, with Alajlani then winning three consecutive frames and the match 86-25, 14-82, 56-73 (58), 75-02, 71-48, 95-0.

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Interestingly, hosts Egypt are staging the event in a hall with a marquee that is directly affected by sunlight. Consequently, even air conditioners and fans fail to control the temperatures during daytime at the venue.

According to Changezi, the heat adversely affected his game and it became progressively harder to control the match with the passage of time.

“I just couldn’t focus on the match,” he told The Express Tribune. “The appalling arrangements for such a big event are unbelievable. I wanted to fight for the title, but it wasn’t meant to be my tournament.”

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The temperatures reached such a crescendo that Scotland’s Gary Thomson reportedly fainted during his match and had to be taken to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Asif is set to take on Wales’ Alex Taubman, Mohammad Sajjad will be up against Iraq’s Ali Jalil and Abdul Sattar will battle Germany’s Lukas Kleckers in the last-64 on Wednesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2015.

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