Muhammad Asif Defeats India’s Chandra to Reach IBSF World Masters Final

MANAMA: Pakistan’s veteran snooker star Muhammad Asif secured a place in the final of the IBSF World Masters Snooker Championship with a commanding 4-2 victory over India’s Manan Chandra in the semi-final held Thursday at the Crowne Plaza, Bahrain.

A former world amateur champion, Asif showcased resilience and skill, recovering strongly after an early setback to dominate the remainder of the match. He sealed the win with frame scores of 118-6, 0-84, 25-76, 92-11, 87-62, and 72-41, underlining his class and experience on the international stage.

Asif started the match on a high as he completely outclassed Chandra 118-6 in the opening frame.

Chandra, however, responded strongly as he won the next two frames to take the lead, only for Asif to win three consecutive frames to round up a thumping victory.

In the final, Muhammad Asif will face India’s Vijay Nichani or Brijesh Damani, who earlier defeated him in the group stage.

A day earlier, Pakistan’s emerging cueist Hasnain Akhtar also qualified for the final IBSF World U17 Snooker Championship by defeating Poland’s Oliwier Nizialek 4-0.

The in-form cueist, who has thus far lost only one frame in his dominant campaign, took early control of the match by sealing three consecutive frames.

Nizialek, who could not score in double digits in each of the first three frames, offered some fightback in the must-win contest, but his efforts were insufficient to down Hasnain, who secured a perfect 4-0 victory with the frame scores of 76-1, 69-8, 88-0 and 62-37.

Hasnain Akhtar will face Wales’ Riley Powell in the final, scheduled to be played on Friday.

Notably, the 16-year-old booked his spot in the IBSF World U17 Snooker Championship semi-final with a resounding 3-1 victory over Poland’s Krzysztof Czapnik.