SNOOKER – NEWLY-CROWNED men’s under-17 world champion Muhammad Hasnain of Pakistan registered a century break of 111 yesterday en route to a big victory in the men’s under-21 competition of the IBSF World Snooker Championships 2025, currently being held in the kingdom.
Hasnain signalled his intent to capture an incredible junior title double in his 3-0 (100-1, 111-1, 67-40) win against Khaled Gazali of Sri Lanka. It was the second successive triumph for the 16-year-old in Group Q of the event’s preliminary round.
His century break in the match’s second frame was the highest of the tournament thus far, and it added to two other impressive breaks of 53 and 41 in frame one.
Hasnain has one match remaining in this stage – it is today against Romania’s David Nistor, who narrowly lost to Ka Long Pang of Hong Kong 2-3 (36-45, 60-35, 0-75, 57-22, 15-60) in another fixture yesterday.
Elsewhere yesterday in the under-21 worlds, Bahrain’s Abdulla Alaali claimed the first victory for the kingdom’s national team after beating Srikanth Gadda of India 3-1 (19-51, 57-6, 63-14, 66-43). It was a fine performance from Alaali, who suffered a narrow 2-3 (25-76, 58-33, 17-67, 58-30, 16-63) defeat to Max Handley of Australia in his opening assignment.
Bahrain’s other competitors in this age-group contest are still searching for their first victories of the round-robin stage. They include Hussain Aqeel in Group B, Faisal Almaliki in Group D, Salem Alazri in Group F, Mahmood Ahmed in Group J, Faisal Albasri in Group K, Abdulla Alhalwaki in Group L, and Abdulla Mohammed in Group P.
Also yesterday in the worlds, being played at Crowne Plaza Bahrain, 16-year-old Chinese snooker sensation Chen Qien upset defending world champion Kamal Chawla of India in the men’s six-red competition.
Qien took the exciting see-saw affair 4-3 (22-38, 7-67, 65-0, 40-27, 47-15, 0-67, 45-7) to complete a clean sweep of his matches in Group A, where he also scored wins over Ali Hussein of Iraq and Jaafar Alraees of Bahrain. Qien had breaks of 50 and 47 in the third and fifth frames, respectively, against Chawla, who posted breaks of 40 and 62.
Also in men’s six-red yesterday, Hasnain lost to Chau Hon Man of Hong Kong 2-4 (9-41, 16-38, 69-0, 33-39, 67-0, 29-30), while newly crowned masters world champion Muhammad Asif of Pakistan defeated Bahrain’s Punait Saqer 4-2 (39-12, 8-43, 35-22, 45-8, 21-34, 41-16). Hasnain has one win in his two Group H matches so far while Asif has triumphed in both his outings.
The preliminaries of both the under-17 and six-red competitions conclude today, setting the stage for the knockouts from tomorrow to Thursday.
This year’s IBSF World Snooker Championships, organised by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) in cooperation with the Bahrain Billiard Sports and Darts Federation, are being held under the patronage of Supreme Council for Youth and Sport first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman, and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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