Pakistan suffer defeat in Asian Team Snooker Championship final.
Pakistan faced a tough defeat against Thailand in the final of the ACBS Asian 15 Red Men’s Team Snooker Championship 2024, held in Riyadh on Friday.
Thailand secured a decisive 3-0 victory with frame scores of 61-4, 75-53, and 90-26, demonstrating their dominance throughout the match.
In the opening singles match, Pakistan’s Asjad Iqbal struggled to mount any significant challenge.
🇸🇦👏 نجلاء النعيمي تكتب التاريخ كأول حكمة عربية وخليجية تدير نهائيًا قاريًا في البطولة الآسيوية للسنوكر 2024 بالرياض.
🏆 Najla Al-Nuaimi makes history as the first Arab and Gulf female referee to officiate a continental final at the 2024 Asian Snooker Championship in Riyadh.… pic.twitter.com/8JDEPk9dT5
— أول سعوديـ/ـة | First🥇Saudi (@First1Saudi) July 5, 2024
Awais Munir showed some resistance in the second singles match, but a crucial foul during color potting allowed his Thai opponent to seize the frame and win the match.
The doubles frame followed a similar pattern, culminating in a comprehensive win for Thailand and a silver medal for Pakistan.
Earlier in the tournament, Pakistan displayed remarkable resilience in the semi-finals against Hong Kong.
The team, consisting of Iqbal and Munir, bounced back after losing the first frame to secure a 3-1 victory.
Iqbal was initially defeated 47-72, but Munir leveled the score with an 80-44 win in his frame.
The doubles match saw Pakistan execute a flawless 99-clearance break to clinch victory. Iqbal then secured the team’s place in the final by defeating Nansen Wan 28-82 in his second singles match.
In the quarter-finals, Pakistan convincingly defeated India (2) with a clean 3-0 sweep.
The scores were 63-35, 75-22, and 70-06, against the Indian duo of Sarav Kothari and Hussain Khan.
Notably, Awais Munir also triumphed in the Asian 6-Red Snooker Championship earlier in the week.
On Tuesday, July 2, he overcame Hong Kong’s Nansen Wan with a 6-3 victory.
The match was evenly poised at 2-2 before Munir won three consecutive frames to take a 5-2 lead.
Despite a brief comeback by Nansen in the eighth frame, Munir’s exceptional potting skills in the ninth frame secured the win.
The final frame scores were 0-65, 35-26, 27-36, 38-20, 0-65, 13-46, 8-60, 34-0, and 27-40.
