Daily Times

Mohammad Bilal won the 44th National Snooker Championship with a fine 8-4 victory over Asjad Iqbal in the final to recapture the title after a lapse of three years at the Karachi Gymkhana on Saturday. Bilal, who remained the most outstanding cueists in 2018 after capturing one gold, one silver and three bronze medals out of 11 medals won by Pakistan, dominated the best of 15 frames final that lasted about four hours. Bilal won the battle 60-54, 93-0, 99-0, 5-127, 0-97, 93-7, 88-39, 23-110, 92-30, 74-7, 35-71, 77-18. The triumph also helped him to go to the top of the national ranking again after three years. Asjad will attain No 2 ranking. In the run up to the final, Bilal, who topped group E with an unbeaten record, outplayed fourth seed Mohammad Majid Ali 5-1 in the last-16, overcome Mohammad Ijaz 5-4 in the quarters and removed third seed Zulfiqar A Qadir 6-3 in the semis.

Despite losing a match to second seed Mohammad Asif, Asjad emerged group B champion and then there was no stopping. He went on to beat veteran Imran Shehzad 5-3 in last-16, carved out 5-4 victory over top seed Babar Masih and was home 6-2 over national U-21champion Ali Haider in the semi-final. “I had a commendable start winning first three frames that immensely boosted my morale for the title triumph,” the 31-year-old Bilal said after the final. This was Bilal’s third appearance in the final of national championship winning the title twice in 2016 and 2019 and finishing runner-up once in 2018. “I availed the chances that came my way and capitalised on Asjad’s mistakes,” added Bilal, a native of Mandi Bahauddin in Punjab. He reiterated his demand for job on sports basis that is vital for mental peace and focusing on the game to bring more laurels to the nation.

The 27-year-old Asjad attributed his defeat to ‘missed chances and bad luck.’ “It was my third final of the country’s premier snooker championship and unfortunately I failed to overcome the title jinx,” the Sargodha-born cueist regretfully said. Asjad, who held four NBP titles under his belt, however, earned consolation by fetching highest break of 139. Meanwhile, back-to-back efficient breaks of 92 and 98 in the second and third frames gave a sound start to Bilal who took 3-0 lead in the match. He won the frames 60-54, 93-0, 99-0, Asjad fought back taking the fourth and fifth frames not only to reduce the lead 2-3 but also brought some life in the final. He also cracked a break of 63 in the fourth as Bilal lose 5-127 and 0-97.

A solid break of 73 guided Bilal to win the sixth frame 93-7 followed by seventh 88-39 to enhance his lead to 5-2 before Asjad garnered a splendid break of 110 in the next frame thus reducing lead to 3-5. Bilal kept his patience winning another two frames 92-30 and 74-7 only to lose one more 35-71 before rounding of the match winning the 12th frame 77-18. It was a wonderful end that saw a break of 76 by the champion. Bilal received a winning purse of Rs100,000 and glittering trophy from Managing Director of Jubilee Insurance Tahir Ahmed who graced the final. Asjad was awarded Rs50,000 and runner-up trophy in addition to Rs10,000 for highest break.

Final result:

Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) beat Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 8-4 (60-54, 93-0, 99-0, 5-127, 0-97, 93-7, 88-39, 23-110, 92-30, 74-7, 35-71, 77-18).