Muhammad Asif outplays Sharjeel Mehmood to lift 2011 Del Monte 4th Ranking Snooker Cup
Muhammad Asif of Punjab has won the 2011 Del Monte fourth Ranking Snooker Cup as he overpowered Sharjeel Mehmood of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by a frame score of 7-2 in their best-of-13 frames final match at the South End Snooker Club in Karachi, Pakistan on Sunday.
It was being expected that Sharjeel, who reached a final for the first time in his career, will provide Asif a very tough competition but he failed to challenge his opponent and looked totally out of form in the final match.
The overall score-line between both players was 99-24, 83-35, 65-50, 73-29, 97-22, 42-78, 63-39, 51-77 and 107-1.
Sharjeel, who previously stunned former Pakistan number one Muhammad Sajjad by six frames to three in the second semi-final on late Saturday night, got many chances during the match but snooker did not come for him. Thus, Asif took the title without doing
much hard work.
During the first half Asif whitewashed Sharjeel and went into a huge 5-0 lead. On resuming the match, Sharjeel however managed in winning the first frame to reduce the deficit at 5-1. Sharjeel was also the first one to be among the balls in the following
seventh frame and it looked as if he will win the frame before he blew an excellent opportunity. Asif quickly stepped in and clinched the frame to increase his lead to 6-1.
The eighth frame was a pretty dramatic one as Asif, who needed just one frame to reach the finish line, was leading by 51 points in it and the match therefore looked almost through. However, everyone was left flabbergasted when Sharjeel on getting a chance
bounced back into the game, with all of his zeal, energy and strength, and pulled the frame after a magnificent clearance of 75 to make the score-line 6-2.
Nevertheless, Asif, who previously shrugged off Pakistan’s current number one player and top seed Imran Shehzad by a frame score of 6-5 in a thrilling semi-final, showed no reeling effects and won the ninth frame with a classy break of 68.
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