The world of under-18 snooker has a new champion. Naseem Akhtar from Pakistan has defeated China’s Peifan Lei 5-3 to take home the crown.
The event consisted of 48 cueists from 29 different countries around the world. There were two Pakistani players participating in the tournament, Naseem Akhtar and Haris Tahir.
Undefeated Till Pre-Quarter Finals
The two players went undefeated in the preliminaries only to face each other in the pre-quarter finals. They won against Dylan Emery, Waowei Wang, Darragh Cusack, Jianbo Zaho, Mark Lloyd and Kirill Petrov.
Naseem won 4-1 against Haris with scores of 72-16, 7-67, 91-31, 69-45, 63-24 in the frames.
According to Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) the champion made it to the semi finals yesterday, after beating Florian Nuble from Austria in the quarter finals. Naseem defeated Florian 4-1, scoring 62-67, 74-7, 86-29, 74-8, 72-21.
Flawless Victory in Semi Finals
In the semi finals he went head to head against Israel’s Amir Nardela. He won without losing a single frame against Amir, going 4-0 and heading into the finals.
There are but a few famous snooker players hailing from Pakistan. The younger players want to win laurels for Pakistan in snooker championships around the world.
Snooker Players in Pakistan
A famous cueist, Muhammad Asif, won the IBSF World Snooker Championship back in 2012.
Another famous player, Muhammad Yousaf, moved to Pakistan from India. He has won several titles including:
- 2006 IBSF World Masters Champion
- 2002 Asian Champion
- 2000 IBSF World Championship Quarter Final
- 1998 ACBS Asian Snooker Champion
- 1994 IBSF World Snooker Champion
Yousaf also teaches snooker to aspiring young players at the largest snooker club in Pakistan, the Dolphin Snooker Club (situated in Chandni Chowk, Lahore).
great
Congrats Naseem