Riding the crest of a wave, teenage sensation Ahsan Ramzan raised his profile by defeating former runner-up Iranian Amir Sarkhosh 6-5 in an epic final to win the International Billiards and Snooker Federation World Snooker Championship in Doha on Friday.
After defeating defending champion and compatriot Mohammad Asif in the semi-finals, the 16-year-old Ahsan rose to the occasion, coming back from 4-2 down at one point to win a nail-biting final 63-60, 91-0, 19-65, 1-102, 28-68, 27-66, 86-18, 1-70, 69-0, 63-17, 67-25 and write his name in the annals of the game.
Pakistan finished with a gold and two bronze medals after Sarkhosh defeated Mohammad Sajjad in the other semi-final.
After China’s Yan Bingtao, who won the world title at the age of 14, Ahsan Ramzan became the second-youngest cueist to do so, defeating Sajjad in the title match in Bangalore in 2014.
Ahsan is also the third Pakistani to win the world snooker championship since its inception in 1963, following veterans Mohammad Yousuf (1994 in Johannesburg) and Asif Ali (1994 in London) (2012 and 2019 at Sofia and Antalya).
The Lahore-based prodigy jumped out to a 2-0 lead after winning the first two frames, which included a solid break of 70 in the second.
Sarkhosh, who took a few frames to warm up, stormed back into the game by winning the next four frames in a row, including a century break (102) in the fourth.
Ahsan, on the other hand, recovered to cut the lead to 3-4 by taking the seventh frame, but again fell victim as his opponent won the next to lead by 5-3 in the best of 11 frames encounter, which needed a frame to be decided.
However, Ahsan maintained his composure and cue control to turn the tide in his favour by winning the next three frames in a row.
In a grueling semi-final that was stretched to the limit, Ahsan ended Asif’s winning streak with a 5-4 victory on the penultimate day.
Ali Asghar Valika, former President of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF), has congratulated Ahsan on his victory in the world event.
“It’s like a dream come true as the cueist did his country proud,” he said after the final.
To read our blog on “On the first day of Pak Aus Test match, Pakistan made history,” click here.
