KARACHI: Pakistan's snooker team, comprising Awais Munir and Asjad Iqbal, secured their place in the final of the ACBS Asian 15 Red Men’s Team Snooker Championship 2024 in Riyadh.
They came from behind in the semi-final after the defeat in the first frame to win 3-1 against Hong Kong. In the first singles match, Iqbal was defeated 47-72. Munir won his frame 80-44 to level the match at 1-1.
In the doubles frame, Pakistan played a 99-clearance break to secure victory. Iqbal defeated Nansen Wan 28-82 in his second singles match and bagged a win.
Earlier in the quarter-final, they defeated India (2) with a score of 3-0. Pakistan's winning scores were 63-35, 75-22, and 70-06. The India (2) team comprised Sarav Kothari and Hussain Khan.
Pakistan have been on a roll in the competition. On the opening day, Pakistan won two matches in their group. Pakistan took a bright start when they downed Saudi Arabia (2) 3-0 with the frame scores being 89-0(76), 64-23, 81-01. The Green-shirts then conquered Myanmar 3-0 to make it to the quarter-finals. The frame scores were 87-39, 72-45, 71-25.
In the Asian Team championship, 18 teams have been placed in six groups. After round matches, the top four teams qualify directly for the quarter-finals. The remaining eight teams play pre-quarter-finals and the winners join the already four qualified teams in the quarter-finals.
Earlier, Munir won the Asian 6-Red Snooker Championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday after beating Hong Kong's cueist Nansen Wan.
Munir secured a 6-3 victory against his opponent. The game was tied at 2-2 and Munir won three sets straight and made his lead 5-2. In the eighth frame, Nansen made a comeback.
However, in the ninth frame, Munir displayed excellent control and potting to clinch the victory. Munir won the match with the scores 0-65, 35-26, 27-36, 38-20, 0-65, 13-46, 8-60, 34-0, 27-40.