کُـلـمـــانی KOLMANI

KARACHI: Second seed Saleh Mohammad of Afghanistan blasted third seed Omar Al Kojah of Syria in the final to clinch the Jubilee Insurance 29th Asian Snooker Championship 2013, which concluded at the Sheraton Hotel here on Friday.  

The title clash, contrary to expectations, turned out to be a one-sided affair with the supremely confident Saleh, after hiccups in the opening frame, dictating terms with hints of conviction.

He forced his Syrian rival into submission, comfortably winning the best-of-13-frame encounter 7-2 with the scores of 4-83, 121-14, 108-29, 57-61, 72-17, 75-50, 72-14, 64-41, 75-45.

Omar, who had edged out Aamir Sarkosh of Iran after an 11-frame battle in the semi-final the other day, started off brilliantly as he pocketed the first frame handsomely.

The failure in the opening frame served as a wake-up call for Saleh who responded with a sensational break of 121 in the second frame. Another big break of 57 in the third frame allowed him to go into lead.

Omar, as he had done in the earlier matches, showed resilience and kept the contest alive by narrowly winning the closely fought fourth frame to square matters.

Saleh, who whacked Zhao Xintong in the semi-final, was too good for Omar in the fifth frame. He also wrapped up the sixth quickly to double his lead.

Another fantastic break of 62 earned him the seventh frame as well.

Time was fast running out for Omar as he trailed 2-5. He had come from behind in the semi-finals but he couldn’t produce that kind of touch against a rival who was more experienced and itching to close the deal.

Saleh, who performed quite well at the international level for Pakistan until 2008, was looking for his maiden glory for Afghanistan, whom he started representing after relocating there in 2009.  

The local support was with Saleh and he was not in a mood to disappoint his large number of fans. 

The Asian title came closer to him as he overcame his threatening rival in the eighth frame to make it 6-2.

There was anticipation in the crowd as Saleh approached the table for the ninth frame. The pressure was telling on Omar who had to do something extraordinary to turn the tables. He tried but he didn’t succeed in taming his opponent who was playing at his best.  

Saleh wrapped up the issue by winning the ninth frame. He triumphed in style. His conquest reminded many of his glorious past when he used to thrash his various rivals in the national ranking tournaments in a similar manner.

Saleh had been the runner-up in the World Championship in 2003 when he was undone in the final by Pankaj Advani of India after having won his previous 14 matches of the competition, which was staged in China.