Mohammad Sajjad lives up to expectations in Pakistan-Iran snooker series
Pakistan’s third ranked snooker player, Mohammad Sajjad, has lived up to expectations in Pakistan by playing comparatively better than current national champion, Mohammad Shahid, and runner-up, Imran Shahzad, in the Pakistan-Iran snooker Series.
The information was provided by Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) at the end of day four of the event. Pakistan is currently leading the series with seven points at 50-43.
The Asian number two, Mohammad Sajjad, who reached the semi-final stage of the 36th NJI National Snooker Championship, is the only player of the three-member Pakistani squad, who has been performing well in the event so far. He clinched all his
three games adding 27 points to the overall Pakistan score, while the other two cueists could contribute with a combined 23 points only.
Sargodha-based, Mohammad Sajjad, played three matches on day four against Iranian cueists, Armin Khodaparast, Ehsan Hydari Nezhad and Ali Roshanikia, and defeated all of them.
He defeated Khodaparast 6-1 in a seven-frame match, firing two decent breaks of 64 and 50.
His match against Ehsan Hydari Nezhad was quite sensational as he fired two stunning century breaks of 122 and 124 to earn a convincing victory over the Iranian with a score line 5-2.
He next faced Ali Roshanikia in his third battle of the day and totally outplayed him, 6-1, smashing his third century break of the day, 105, to earn 27 points for his country in the bilateral snooker series.
Sajjad commented at the end of the day that he was quite happy with his performance and enjoyed it, though the Iranian cueists were also good at their game.
On the other hand, the other Pakistani cuemen, Imran Shahzad, and, Mohammad Shahid, failed to shine in the series. Shahzad, who was the most experienced player of the squad, could clinch only one victory from three matches over Hossein Vafaei 4-3 while in
other two contests against Ali Roshanikia and Sepher Lababi, he faced defeats with 3-4 each.
Mohammad Shahid from Faisalabad, who is current national champion and national number one, lost all his three games and failed match expectations. He lost 2-5 against Nezhad after a close fight in the early frames, and suffered a similar fate against Babar
Rostani on the fourth day.
The five-day Pakistan-Iran snooker series, which is being played at Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran, is the first leg of the series. The second leg will be hosted by Pakistan next year. The series is being played on a point basis, in which a player earns
a point for each frame won, a point on each 50-plus clearance, and, two points for firing a century break.
The series was postponed as the Iranian Consulate refused to entertain visa applications of the squad saying that they did not receive any mandatory clearance from their Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, the issue was resolved later and the first leg of the series went ahead.
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