Dubai: Two of the three UAE players advanced to the next stages of the 33rd Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS) Men’s Snooker Championships being held in Doha.
In Wednesday’s action, Mohammad Al Joker was joined by reigning UAE national champion Mohammad Shehab in the L16 round of matches, while Eisa Ali Al Hashemi bowed out in straight frames in early matches held.
Al Joker had to dig in deep before securing a hard-fought 4-3 win against Iranian Amir Sarkhosh to set up a L16 meeting against Aung Phyo of Myanmar, while Shehab coasted his way to a 4-1 win over Ahmad Saif of Qatar and was scheduled to meet India’s Dharminder Lilly, who was among the last players advancing with a tough 4-3 win against Muang Muang of Malaysia.
However, Al Hashemi’s campaign came to an end after the 47-year-old from the UAE went down 12-100, 34-80, 7-110 and 46-71 against Mohammad Reza Hassan from Malaysia.
Top seed, multiple world champion and tournament favourite Pankaj Advani of India was among the first to advance with an emphatic 4-0 (68-19, 117-15, 96-6, 72-1) win over Shu Hung Lin of Taipei.
The 31-year-old Indian, who has the rare distinction of winning a record 16 world titles, including four in snooker, was next scheduled to take on Ali Roshanikiya of Iran. In the lower end of the draw, second seed Lv Haotian of China was also emphatic while defeating Lee Daegyu of South Korea 4-0 (69-58, 104-4, 72-48 and 71-10 with a high break of the day with 82 in the second frame.
The L16 round was scheduled to be played later last night followed by the quarter-finals and the semi-finals on Thursday. The final will be played from 1pm on Friday.
Results:
Mohammad Al Joker beat Amir Sarkhosh 4-3 (73-9, 84-18, 1-87, 62-36, 39-63, 43-69, 68-24); Mohammad Reza Hassan beat Eisa Ali Al Hashemi 4-0 (100-12, 80-34, 110-7, 71-46); Mohammad Shehab bt Ahmad Saif 4-1 (77-2, 0-81, 132-0, 120-1, 62-53); Pankaj Advani beat Shu Hung Lin 4-0 (68-19, 117-15, 96-6, 72-1); Darminder Lilly beat Maung Maung 4-3 (75-37, 81-44, 6-91, 83-30, 49-87, 57-65, 56-17).
