Daily Times

KARACHI: Former IBSF world champion Mohammad Asif succeeded in defending his title as he defeated in-form Mohammad Bilal in the 8th NBP Ranking Snooker Championship final 8-3 at the NBP Sports Complex here Monday. Asif, who came into the event with a point to prove to the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) after being excluded for the recent international championships, dominated the final for most parts. The only frame where the two cueists seemed equally matched was the first one, which eventually went to Asif. Bilal, who had staged a comeback against veteran Mohammad Sajjad in the semi-final, refused to back down and offered resistance to the title holder as he won two frames on the trot to go 2-1 up.

However, that was almost all that Bilal was able to muster, with the game turning Asif’s way as he triumphed with overall scores of 64-56, 05-88, 44-69 (61), 72-34, 62-49 (62), 60-18, 130-01 (130), 69-36, 83-05, 29-72, 107-32. The Faisalabad-based cueist said he was more relieved than happy as everyone had started questioning his game after some lacklustre outings in the last few domestic competitions. “I came into this competition to prove that I was still Pakistan’s top player, and thankfully I was able to achieve that goal,” Asif told media.

“When a player has been the world individual and team champion and has won the Asian 6-Red title as well, there is something about his game which doesn’t go away easily. Some people thought I had achieved as much as I could, but the reality is that I was occupied with some personal problems for the last couple of months which really affected my game. I decided to put all that behind me and dedicate all my focus to my game, which bore fruit.” Asif added that he would ensure that off-field distractions do not affect his game in the future and that he wants to represent Pakistan at the international level again and win more laurels for the country.

The champion received Rs60,000 as the winner’s prize money, while Bilal pocketed Rs35,000. The semi-finalists were given Rs15,000 each, while the last-eight players went home with Rs5,000 each. Sharjeel Mehmood was given Rs5,000 for hitting the highest break of the competition at 140 points.