UAE duo off to winning start at world championship

UAE's Mohamed Shehab and Mohammed Al Joaker recorded victories in their opening matches of the 2012 IBSF World Snooker Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria on Saturday night.

Shehab, a semifinalist at the same event in 2007, vanquished Marcin Nitschke of Poland 4-1 in his first Group R outing, while Al Joaker scored a 4-2 victory over Mustafa Eldalli of Libya in their Group U match.

Shehab had a sluggish start to the match as he conceded first frame to the Poland No. 1 Nitschke 70-14, but recovered by taking the next 62-18 to tie the frame score 1-1.

From then on Shehab dominated his rival with ease and soon gained a 3-1 advantage, capturing the third and fourth frames 87-17 and 74-15.

He wrapped up the best-of-seven frames match in style by restricting his rival to only two points and scoring a fine break of 98 points, which is the third highest of the tournament.

The highest break of the event so far is 112 by Duncan Bezzina of Malta, followed by a 104 by Gary Wilson of England.

Al Joaker, on the other hand, had a tough game against Eldalli of Libya, who stole the close first frame 55-46. Al Joaker, ranked No. 2 in the UAE, hit back by grabbing the second 61-20.

A spectacular break of 87 gave the third frame to Al Joaker 87-1 and he went on to take the fourth 52-16 for a solid 3-1 lead.

Eldalli, however, recovered to pocket the fifth frame 66-40, but Al Joaker held on to his nerves to pinch the sixth 64-56 on the final black.

A total of 102 players from 47 countries are taking part in the men's event of the World Championship. The participation of the two UAE cueists is being sponsored by Al Habtoor Motors.
 

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.