Bengaluru: A few hours after Chinese sensation Yan Bingtao stunned the crowd into silence with a stunning quarterfinal win over favourite Pankaj Advani, Muhammad Sajjad of Pakistan wowed the crowd with a brilliant exhibition of snooker en route to the final of the Seaways IBSF World Snooker Championships here.

It was payback time at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium on Friday as Pakistan’s Sajjad, who went down to Zhao Xintong in the semifinals of last year’s edition in Latvia, put it across the Chinese 7-3 with a show that had the crowd in raptures. 

In the title clash, Sajjad takes on Advani’s conqueror Bingtao. The 14-year-old, who beat Advani 6-4, overcame Thailand’s Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn 7-5 in the other semifinal. 

Earlier, Bingtao made the most Advani’s generosity to pull off a shock win over the Indian, who was gunning for a fifth World title of the season with a gritty show. With the constant movement in the stands and cell phones going off affecting the rhythm of the players, the 14-year-old Chinese, who is in line to become the youngest IBSF World champion, held his nerve to go through. 

Barring the two frames in which Bingtao came up two flowing clearances – 107 in the third and a 79 in the seventh – Advani was in the hunt for the good part of the match, but just couldn’t clinch them. 

Besides letting the disturbance in the hall get to him, the run of the balls too favoured the Chinese, who didn’t complain en route to the biggest shock of the tournament. 

Sajjad impresses 

Barring a couple of mistakes in the first and the 10th frames, the 28-year-old Pakistani cueist, Sajjad hardly put a foot wrong. His splendid all-round game warmed the hearts of the huge gathering. His sensational potting, his immaculate cue-ball positioning and precise safety play had the huge gathering spellbound. 

While giving nothing away to his rival who is capable of potting from anywhere, Sajjad made the most of the chances that the Chinese ace gave. The 17-year-old Xintong, who had captivated the hearts of the connoisseurs with his sensational potting right through the tournament, probably didn’t realize that the essence of snooker is safety play . He paid the penalty for his go-for-broke attitude for the better part of the semifinal. Sajjad, who gave a rare opening to Xintong in the first frame, which the latter won with a break of 69, punished Xintong’s errors with telling effect. He had runs of 62, 67, 98, a 120 clearance and another 103 clearance in the ninth frame. The last one stood out as he pulled off some amazing pots and recovery shots. 

Wendy on track 

Three-time champion Wendy Jans of Belgium stayed on course for a hat-trick of titles with a 4-1 win over two-time champion Ng On Yee of Hong Kong in the women’s semifinals. The 31-year-old, who made a flowing 88 break earlier in the morning against India’s Chitra Magimairaj in the quarterfinals, was just took good for the On Yee. In the title clash, Wendy takes on Anastasia Nechaeva of Russia. 

Results:

Men: Semifinals: Muhammad Sajjad (Pak) bt Zhao Xintong (Chn) 7-3 ; Yan Bingtao (Chn) bt K Lertsattayathorn (Thai) 7-5; Women: Semifinals: Wendy Jans (Bel) bt Ng On Yee (HK) 4-1; Anastasia Nechaeva (Rus) bt Daria Sirotina (Rus) 4-2.