Mixed bag for Qatar cueists at IBSF Snooker World C’Ships

Three Qatari cueists registered victories at the IBSF Snooker Championships at the Al Sadd Indoor Hall yesterday. Ali Alobaidli, Bashar Abdulmajeed and Mohsin al-Abdulrahman all scored victories to boost their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage. Al-Obaidli got past Hisham Nadi of Egypt 4-0, while Abdulmajeed beat Japan’s Keishin Kamihashi 4-2. Later, Mohsin al-Abdulrahman overcame Janio Santos Goncalves of Brazil 3-0. However, two other local players lost their match. Ahmed Saif went down to Scotland’s Chris Totten 2-4, while Mohsen Bukshaisha was beaten by Felix Frede of Germany 0-4.Meanwhile, former IBSF world champion Mohamed Asif of Pakistan was upset by Thomas Dowling of Ireland. Asif, who had won three matches previously to enter the knock out stage, was not in his best form yesterday.On Tuesday, Asif had rallied to overcome Alobaidli 4-3 after trailing 1-3 at one stage. But there was no escape for Asif yesterday, as Dowling won the fifth and sixth frame to pocket the match 4-2. A win against Dowling in his final group match, would have guaranteed him the top spot in the group, by virtue of which he would have been awarded a bye in the first knockout stage.Asif now will have to do all the scraping especially with defending champion Pankaj Advani in fine form. Advani, the 15-time world champion, in both Snooker and Billiards, won this title last year in Egypt and the Indian has won all his matches comfortably to cruise into the knockouts. In fact, the 31-year-old is yet to lose a frame in the tournament, while winning 16 frames so far in his convincing victories. Advani is most likely to acquire the top-seed slot for the knockouts, which commences from tomorrow. Mateusz Baranowski of Poland advanced to the knockout stage after defeating Welshman Andrew Pagett 4-3. Baranowski had already lost one match against Sundeep Gulati of India, which made yesterday’s match a important one for the Pole.And Baranowski rose to the occasion, starting the match with an impressive break of 76 points and winning the first two frames. Pagett pulled it back to take the match to decider, but Baranowski held his nerve to clinch the frame with a winning break of 58 points.Over 250 players from 55 countries are competing in the IBSF World Snooker championship, which is being held concurrently for men, women and masters. The 10-day tournament will end on November 29. A total of $16,000 is up for grabs in the men’s event of the championship, being hosted for the first time in the GCC. This is the second World Championship the QBSF is hosting in three months, after the 9-Ball Pool event in August.The women’s event carries a $6,000 purse while $8,000 is at stake for the master players. The winner of the championship highest break in the men’s category will receive $500 cash reward plus certificate. For women, the highest break will fetch $200 and for the masters’ $300. Al-Khayareen set to be new IBSF presidentMeanwhile, Qatar’s Mubarak Hamad al-Khayareen is set to be elected unopposed as the new president of International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF). The IBSF’s new office-bearers will be elected on Saturday at the Annual General Assembly, to be held on the sidelines of ongoing World Snooker Championships in Doha.He is a Board member of the IBSF and also heads the Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports. Al-Khayareen, currently Executive Director of the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation, will take over from India’s Captain PVK Mohan, who completed his two-year term.