Bilal downs Sohail to win National Snooker title

KARACHI: Third seed Mohammad Bilal overcame the unseeded giant-killer, Sohail Shahzad, in the final of the Jubilee Insurance 41st National Snooker Championship 2016 here at the Hotel Movenpick on Saturday.

Bilal became the first national champion from the town of Mandi Bahauddin as he played remarkably well to win the best of 13-frame title clash 7-5 with the scores of 46-58, 17-98, 77-45, 84-15, 54-77, 7-81, 77-27, 25-77, 67-54, 84-41, 70-37, 101-0.

Sohail, hailing from Karachi, looked in sight of annexing the national crown for the first time in his career when he ran into 5-3 lead but he squandered a few chances which allowed his opponent to claw back into the game, telecasted live on Geo Super.

The final lived up to the expectations of being a cracker as both the cueists, making their maiden appearance, did everything in their right to lay their hands at the trophy. It lasted almost five and a half hours.

Sohail, who had toppled top seeded Mohammad Asif in the semi-finals after eliminating second seed Mohammad Sajjad in the quarter-finals, just couldn’t press home the advantage against third seed Bilal, who seemed to have reserved his best for the final assault.

The first couple of frames were snatched by Sohail who fired a break of 69 in the second frame. Bilal drew level by winning the next two frames but Sohail inched ahead by claiming two more frames with successive breaks of 54 and 81.

Bilal narrowed the deficit by taking the seventh frame but Sohail reclaimed his two-frame lead by winning the next one. Being 5-3 up, the latter had become the favourite to run away with the trophy.

It was at this point where Bilal displayed his awesome skills as suggested by the breaks of 71, 64 and 101 in successive frames. He won the last three frames on a trot, finishing it off with a magnificent clearance break of 101.

The newly crowned national champion appeared cool and calm throughout the final and he didn’t show emotions even after collecting the trophy.

“I am very happy to win it. I have worked hard to come this far. Now my ambition is to extend my current form to the Asian Championship to bring laurels for the country,” he observed.

Sohail, the runner-up, was not heart-broken either, saying that he played in a relaxed manner throughout the event.

“I played the final in the same way but it was one of those days when the rub of the green didn’t go your way. I am glad to have reached the final of the National Championship but the title would have been sweeter,” he said.

The prize distribution ceremony, in which cash awards of more than Rs3 lac were disbursed, was held immediately after the conclusion of the final. Tahir Ahmed, Managing Director, Jubilee General Insurance, was the chief guest on the occasion with Moin Khan, a former Pakistan cricket captain, and coach of Queta Gladiators being the guest of honour.

Alamgir Shaikh, President, Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), in his welcome address, acknowledged the support of all the stake-holders in lifting cue sports.

“The emergence of brilliant young cueists has created problems for the seasoned campaigners who are now required to be in their tosses all the times in order to succeed at the national level,” he stated.

“Both Bilal and Sohail, the finalists of the National Championship, will now represent Pakistan in the upcoming Asian Snooker Championship 2016 to be staged in Sri Lanka,” the PBSA President confirmed.

Tahir Ahmed, representing the sponsors, expressed his delight at the continued improvement in the standard of snooker and the expansion of the pool of talented cueists all over the country.

Moin Khan, a celebrated cricketer-turned coach, also talked briefly and noted the phenomenal growth of snooker in Pakistan over the years. He urged the governmental bodies in particular to allocate more funds to let cue sports bring more glories for the country.