Pakistan's Muhammad Sajjad, until now unsung and unheralded, dished out a master class to outplay a precocious Zhao Xintong of China 7-3, aided by two superb century breaks, en route to the men's final in the Seaways-IBSF World Snooker Championship here Friday.
In the best-of-15 frames final Saturday, Sajjad, who beat India's Manan Chandra 6-1 in the previous round, takes on another Chinese, 14-year old Yan Bingtao who won a battle of attrition 7-5 against Thailand's Kritsnut Lertsattayathom in a match that lasted four hours.
Bingtao, who had beaten Indian hope Pankaj Advani 6-4 in the quarter-finals earlier in the day, was stretched to breakpoint by Lertsattayathom in a marathon semi-final that lasted four hours and saw just two half-century breaks - 54 by the Chinese and 62 by the Thai.
The women's final will be between defending champion Wendy Jans of Belgium who routed Ng On Yee (Hong Kong) 4-1 and Russia's Anastasia Nachaeva who wore down compatriot Daria 4-2.
Sajjad, the 28-year old school dropout from Sargodha, and employed with National Bank of Pakistan, played a near-flawless game to outclass the left-handed Chinese teenager, runner-up in the 2013 championship, in a manner that won him a legion of admirers.
Sajjad thus avenged his semi-final defeat last year in his inimitable style marked by super-smooth cueing, delightful touch with which he persuaded the balls to do his bidding and cue-ball control that helped him develop frame-winning breaks with effortless ease.
The turning point was the third frame when Zhao yielded to his youthful impetuosity to slam a green that he missed in the top pocket, but broke the bunch in the process. Sajjad seized the opening and with reds spread favourably, put together a magnificent run of 120 that launched his assault and another break of 106 in the ninth effectively killed Zhao's challenge.
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"In the last championship, I lost to Xintong after leading 5-3. So, I was keen to score in every visit to the table, and once I got into the rhythm, everything fell in place. It does not matter who I will play in the final tomorrow, but I want to win this title for Pakistan," said Sajjad.
Earlier, the quarter-final rounds saw the exit of Advani and Manan Chandra in the men's, a listless Chitra Magimairajan in the women's and veterans B.V. Srinivasa Murthy and Rafath Habib in the Masters sections.
The buzz was about 29-year old Advani's shock defeat to Yan in a match that swung from sublime to mediocre in the blink of an eye, and which left the Indian struggling to offer a plausible explanation to his dramatic loss.
"I was repeatedly distracted by movements in the crowd. I know that as a professional, I should not all these distractions to impact my game, but today, it did. Also, I missed too many balls and did not utilize the chances that came my way. I didn't score heavily enough to hurt my opponent," said Advani who came into the tournament as a hot favourite after adding three more World titles to his collection this year.
Having fared reasonably well during his two-year stint on the professional tour and being ranked 58 when he opted to return to the amateur fold, a lot more was expected from Advani, but only in patches did the 2003 champion looked anywhere close to his best, with just one century break (126) to show for his efforts.
Against Yan, for instance, Advani had his chances in every frame, but blew them all as the Chinese made capital of his opponent's lapses, notably in the 10th frame. Advani was in great position to win this frame with a clearance, but missed a sitter brown and Yan needed no second invitation to race back to the table and clear for the match.
Advani led 2-0 before Yan crafted a brilliant 107 to begin his fightback and eventually take control of the proceedings even as the Indian seemed to have lost focus as he allowed himself to be distracted by movement in the crowd and a few spectators who kept up chatter.
"I missed many balls today and also got distracted by the crowd. I could not develop some of the breaks when they were on and this might sound like sour grapes, but I did not get the kind of environment that I wanted, playing in my hometown and all that," said Advani whose best breaks were 57 and 49.
In sharp contrast, Zhao fought and won a tough match 6-4 against Aussie Adrian Ridley whose break of 106 was to no avail as his young opponent blasted 139 and 66 in the ninth and 10th frames to finish the match in style.
The results (Indians unless mentioned):
MEN - Semi-finals (Best-of-13): Muhammad Sajjad (PAK) bt Zhao Xintong (CHN) 7-3 (13-74 (69), 70 (62)-08, 53-64, 67-18, 103 (67)-00, 98 (98)-01, 124 (120)-14; 09-105 (91), 103 (103)-29, 53-11). Yan Bingtao (CHN) bt Kritsnut Lertsattayathom (THA) 7-5 (72-27, 51-62, 12-122 (62), 35-57,68-14, 59-02, 115-24, 32-70, 54-52, 18-67, 82 (54), 73-05). Quarter-finals (Best-of-11): Sajjad (PAK) bt Manan Chandra 6-1; Xintong (CHN) bt Adrian Ridley (AUS) 6-4; Bingtao (CHN) bt Pankaj Advani 6-4; Lertsattayathom (THA) bt Amir Sarkhosh (IRN) 6-3.
WOMEN - Semi-finals (Best-of-7): Wendy Jans (BEL) bt Ng On Yee (HK) 4-1; Anastasia Nechaeva (RUS) bt Daria Sirotina (RUS) 4-2. Quarter-finals: Jans (BEL) bt Chitra Magimairajan 4-1; Yee (HK) bt Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan (THA) 4-0; Sirotina (RUS) bt Siraphat Chitchomnart (THA) 4-0; Nachaeva (RUS) bt Wan (HK) 4-0.
MASTERS - Semi-finals (Best-of-9): Phisit Chandsri (THA) bt Craig MacGillvray 5-2; Darren Morgan (WAL) bt Chuchart Trirattanapradit (THA) 5-3. Quarter-finals (Best-of-7): Morgan (WAL) bt BV Srinivasa Murthy 4-0; Chandsri (THA) bt Choon Kiat Tey (SIN) 4-0; MacGillvray (SCO) bt Noel Rodrigues Moreira (BRA) 4-3; Trirattanapradit (THA) bt Rafat Habib 4-3.