Asif sets up Ranking Snooker final with Mubashir

KARACHI: Seventh seed Muhammad Asif and unseeded Mubashir Raza booked a date in the final after outwitting their opponents in the semi-finals of the NBP Ranking Snooker Championship here at the NBP Sport Complex on Friday.

The best-of-15-frame final between Asif and Mubashir is due to commence at 10 am on Saturday (today). It will be followed, at 4:30 pm, by the prize distribution ceremony in which Arif Usmani, President, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), will be the chief guest. Both the matches will be telecast live on Geo Super.

Both the best-of-11-frame semi-finals, contested simultaneously, turned out to be absorbing and the result was uncertain till the very end. The matches lasted almost four hours.

They featured two seasoned campaigners, Asif and Muhammad Sajjad, who carried a wealth of international experience besides being former national champions more than once. The youthful duo of Mubashir and Muhammad Ahsan Javaid were playing their first-ever semi-finals of any national ranking tournament.

In the first semi-final, Asif, a former world champion, brought all his skills and expertise into play to edge out Ahsan 6-5 with the frame scores of 63-44, 87-1, 47-60, 0-94, 1-99, 70-26, 41-74, 71-35, 56-65, 56-47, 71-28. In the second semi-final, the supremely confident Mubashir overcame the vastly experienced Sajjad 6-4 with the frame scores of 55-39, 1-64, 63-49, 23-65, 73-61, 97-34, 4-129, 14-55, 71-32, 69-28.

The 37-year old Asif, hailing from the industrial city of Faisalabad, meant business as he pocketed the first couple of frames. His sizzling break of 87 in the second frame reflected the class of a player in full flow.

Ahsan, 10 years junior to the master craftsman, showed his growing maturity by snatching the next three frames on the trot. The break of 67 registered by the Sialkot youngster in the fifth frame allowed him to move into a 3-2 lead.

Asif restored parity by winning the sixth frame but Ahsan again grabbed the lead by taking the seventh frame. Asif drew level by winning the eighth frame but could not prevent his opponent from going 5-4 up after the ninth frame.

Ahsan was just a frame away from making his maiden entry into the final of a national ranking tournament. Tense and close battle ensued in the 10th frame which Asif managed to win to stay alive in the contest. And he made the most of this lifeline by firing a break of 71 in the decisive 11th frame to progress to the final.

Although the other semi-final between Mubashir and Sajjad didn’t go the full distance of 11 frames, it also had as much drama and tension as the other one. Youth prevailed over experience after a dramatic encounter.

The 25-year old Mubashir, belonging to Lahore, made his intentions very clear by winning the opening frame. Sajjad, now 33, bounced back to win the next frame but lost the third. Belonging to the city of Sargodha, Sajjad restored parity again by grabbing the fourth frame. Mubashir managed to turn the tide in his favour in the closely-fought fifth frame and he wasted no time in doubling the lead with a break of 60 in the sixth frame.

Sajjad was equal to the task, chalking up a majestic break of 105 in the very next frame and then sustaining the momentum to claim the eight frame as well to make it four-all.

At this point, it looked anybody’s game and although the young Mubashir was playing superbly, there were many spectators who believed that Sajjad, a former world number two, was more likely to press home the advantage on the basis of his experience and temperament.

But it was not to be. Mubashir didn’t pass the impression of feeling overawed by the big reputation of his opponent and he continued playing well even in the final moments when tension was at his peak. He inched ahead by winning the ninth frame and sealed the fate of the match by taking the next frame.