{"id":96703,"date":"2025-01-10T15:19:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=96703"},"modified":"2025-01-10T15:19:09","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:19:09","slug":"pakistans-cueist-wins-saarc-snooker-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan&#8217;s cueist wins Saarc Snooker Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pakistan(National Times)- Pakistan\u2019s world amateur snooker champion, Muhammad Asif, displayed a flawless performance to clinch the title at the third SAARC Snooker Championship in Colombo on Friday.\u00a0 He defeated Sri Lanka\u2019s Thaha Irshath in the final with a commanding 5-0 victory, without dropping a single frame throughout the match. The final was held at the Moors Snooker Club in Colombo, where Asif showcased his exceptional skills and cue control.\u00a0 He dominated throughout the final to win it with frame scores of 99-3, 73-46, 85-38, 109-6, and 74-0.\u00a0 Asif registered three breaks of 50 or over in the best of 9 final, including a top break of 67 in the opening and closing frames, which sealed his comprehensive win. The SAARC Snooker Championship title is Asif\u2019s eighth career title, highlighting his status as one of the most successful amateur players in the region. &#8220;Winning this title is a moment of great pride for me and Pakistan,&#8221; Asif said after the match. The champion has also received congratulations from President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif as they lauded Asif in separate messages for demonstrating his\u00a0best game in the entire championship particularly the final. \u201cMuhammad Asif brought laurels to Pakistan in the game of snooker. I pray for Muhammad Asif\u2019s success in the future as well,\u201d President Zardari said. Prime Minister Shehbaz also felicitated cueist Asif on winning the third SAARC snooker championship. \u201cMuhammad Asif won an important snooker championship and brought the country\u2019s name to the limelight in the whole world.The whole nation is proud of you,\u201d the PM said.\u00a0 He also expressed best wishes for Asif\u2019s future. Asif\u2019s victory in Colombo also makes him the second Pakistani to win the SAARC Snooker Championship.\u00a0 The first edition of the event, held in 2019, was won by Pakistan\u2019s Asjad Iqbal. This latest triumph adds another feather to the cap of the 42-year-old from Faisalabad, who has already cemented his legacy in amateur snooker. Asif is a three-time world champion, having won the IBSF World Snooker Championship in 2012, 2019, and again in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pakistan(National Times)- Pakistan\u2019s world amateur snooker champion, Muhammad Asif, displayed a flawless performance to clinch the title at the third SAARC Snooker Championship in Colombo on Friday.\u00a0 He defeated Sri Lanka\u2019s Thaha Irshath in the final with a commanding 5-0 victory, without dropping a single frame throughout the match. The final was held at the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pakistan&#039;s cueist wins Saarc Snooker Championship - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pakistan&#039;s cueist wins Saarc Snooker Championship - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pakistan(National Times)- Pakistan\u2019s world amateur snooker champion, Muhammad Asif, displayed a flawless performance to clinch the title at the third SAARC Snooker Championship in Colombo on Friday.\u00a0 He defeated Sri Lanka\u2019s Thaha Irshath in the final with a commanding 5-0 victory, without dropping a single frame throughout the match. The final was held at the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-10T15:19:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-670x370-52.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/\",\"name\":\"Pakistan's cueist wins Saarc Snooker Championship - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-670x370-52.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-10T15:19:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-670x370-52.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image-670x370-52.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pakistan&#8217;s cueist wins Saarc Snooker Championship\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pakistan's cueist wins Saarc Snooker Championship - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2025\/96703\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pakistan's cueist wins Saarc Snooker Championship - Nation","og_description":"Pakistan(National Times)- Pakistan\u2019s world amateur snooker champion, Muhammad Asif, displayed a flawless performance to clinch the title at the third SAARC Snooker Championship in Colombo on Friday.\u00a0 He defeated Sri Lanka\u2019s Thaha Irshath in the final with a commanding 5-0 victory, without dropping a single frame throughout the match. 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