KARACHI: Pakistan duo Muhammad Sajjad and Muhammad Asif qualified for the semifinals of the Jubilee Insurance 7-Nation Snooker Championship after victories in the quarterfinals at local hotel here on Wednesday.
Sajjad faced strong challenge from Egyptian Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed before making it into the last four round with 5-3 win that included a brilliant break of 107 in the sixth frame. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh of Thailand overpowered his countryman Noppon Saengkham 5-4 after a thrilling encounter. Hossein Vafaei Ayouri of Iran also advanced to the last four stage when he ended the brilliant run of Abdul Sattar of Pakistan 5-0.
Reigning national champion Asif fought from 3-all to beat seasoned international Yasin Merchant of India by winning the last two frames. In the best-of-11-frame semifinals on Thursday (today), Ayouri will take on Sajjad and Asif will face Thepchaiya.
Quarterfinal results:
1: Muhammad Asif (Pak) beat Yasin Merchant (India) 5-3 (61-47, 0-118, 98-20, 33-65, 70-57, 25-74, 64-07, 74-09)
2: Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Iran) beat Abdul Sattar (Pak) 5-0 (92-64, 92-12, 72-30, 69-63, 56-30).
3: Muhammad Sajjad (Pak) beat Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed (Egypt) 5-3 (01-97, 74-34, 54-50, 01-78, 57-70, 107-25, 59-34, 83-28)
4: Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) beat Noppon Saengkham (Thailand) 5-4 (70-64, 00-82, 25-56, 08-91, 80-50, 104-00, 98-09, 55-70, 65-06). – Dailytimes
