By Syed Khalid Mahmood
Hossein Vafaei Ayouri, the reigning world champion from Iran, added another feather to his cap by winning the 13th Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship 2012 as he overpowered Anda Zhang of China in the final of the event staged in Goa, India.
The impossibly gifted Iranian teenager, having survived a scare at the hands of Noppon Saengkham of Thailand in the semifinals, recorded a cakewalk 6-2 win over Anda Zhang in the final with the frame scores of 121-6, 87-37, 74-0, 126-6, 79-5, 12-69, 29-76, 91-13.
Hossein Ayouri, who had created a sensation by clinching the world crown in Indian city of Bangalore last year, was in sublime form to crush his Chinese rival in the best of 11-frame final which turned out to be a one-sided affair.
He started off with a break of 79 in the opening frame which he won comfortably. There was some resistance in the second frame but there was none in the next three frames, in which he fired breaks of 74, 105 and 67.
He was firmly in control of the proceedings with a 5-0 lead in remarkably quick time, needing just one more to pocket the title. His opponent survived a clean sweep by winning the next two frames but it was all over in eight frames.
Unlike the lop-sided final, both the semifinals went to the full distance of nine frames. Hossein Ayouri had to bring all his expertise into play while overcoming Noppon Saengkham 5-4 with the scores of 70-17, 41-52, 73-00, 109-7, 105-22, 5-119, 28-77, 31-75, 74-36 while Anda Zhang faced similar fight before taming compatriot Zhou Yelong 5-4 with the frame scores of 52-64, 76-1, 87-64, 59-40, 5-104, 109-0, 6-70, 57-44.
Both of the matches witnessed snooker of high class with neither of the contestants prepared to give up. There were quite a few big breaks as well. Hossein Ayouri fired breaks of 69, 73, 90 and 83 while his rival, Noppon Saengkham, responded with breaks of 67 and 60 to keep the contest alive till the very end.
Anda Zhang chalked up breaks of 76 an 59 in suucessive frame before making one of 109 in the seventh frame. His opponent, Zhou Yelong, began with a frame 52 in the opening frame and followed it up with the ones of 104 and 70 in sixth and eighth frames respectively.
In the quarter-finals Zhou Yelong of China registered a couple of century breaks while overpowering Mohammad. Lababi of Iran 5-3 with the frame scores of 61-72, 112-0, 57-56, 78-23, 5-88, 65-31, 103-2.
Anda Zhang, also from China, stormed into the semifinals by whacking compatriot Lu Ning in straight frames with the scores of 61-56, 67-42, 87-24, 59-51, 108-0 while Noppon Saengkham of Thailand blanked Laxman Rawat of India in straight frames with the scores of 83-0, 79-41, 64-44, 104-4, 75-4.
Hossein Ayouri had to work little harder than anticipated in the quarter-finals while outwitting compatriot Amir Sarkhosh 5-2 with the frame scores of 57-11, 57-53, 54-63, 71-1, 64-8, 38-64, 63-44.
Neither of the Pakistani cueist could force way into the last eight as both Mohammad Hunain Aamir and Mohammad Majid Ali, were defeated in the pre-quarter-finals after having fared well in the league matches. A total of 33 cueists from 10 countries entered the eight-day event, which was inaugurated on April 2.
readmore »»
Hossein Vafaei Ayouri, the reigning world champion from Iran, added another feather to his cap by winning the 13th Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship 2012 as he overpowered Anda Zhang of China in the final of the event staged in Goa, India.
The impossibly gifted Iranian teenager, having survived a scare at the hands of Noppon Saengkham of Thailand in the semifinals, recorded a cakewalk 6-2 win over Anda Zhang in the final with the frame scores of 121-6, 87-37, 74-0, 126-6, 79-5, 12-69, 29-76, 91-13.Hossein Ayouri, who had created a sensation by clinching the world crown in Indian city of Bangalore last year, was in sublime form to crush his Chinese rival in the best of 11-frame final which turned out to be a one-sided affair.
He started off with a break of 79 in the opening frame which he won comfortably. There was some resistance in the second frame but there was none in the next three frames, in which he fired breaks of 74, 105 and 67.
He was firmly in control of the proceedings with a 5-0 lead in remarkably quick time, needing just one more to pocket the title. His opponent survived a clean sweep by winning the next two frames but it was all over in eight frames.
Unlike the lop-sided final, both the semifinals went to the full distance of nine frames. Hossein Ayouri had to bring all his expertise into play while overcoming Noppon Saengkham 5-4 with the scores of 70-17, 41-52, 73-00, 109-7, 105-22, 5-119, 28-77, 31-75, 74-36 while Anda Zhang faced similar fight before taming compatriot Zhou Yelong 5-4 with the frame scores of 52-64, 76-1, 87-64, 59-40, 5-104, 109-0, 6-70, 57-44.
Both of the matches witnessed snooker of high class with neither of the contestants prepared to give up. There were quite a few big breaks as well. Hossein Ayouri fired breaks of 69, 73, 90 and 83 while his rival, Noppon Saengkham, responded with breaks of 67 and 60 to keep the contest alive till the very end.
Anda Zhang chalked up breaks of 76 an 59 in suucessive frame before making one of 109 in the seventh frame. His opponent, Zhou Yelong, began with a frame 52 in the opening frame and followed it up with the ones of 104 and 70 in sixth and eighth frames respectively.
In the quarter-finals Zhou Yelong of China registered a couple of century breaks while overpowering Mohammad. Lababi of Iran 5-3 with the frame scores of 61-72, 112-0, 57-56, 78-23, 5-88, 65-31, 103-2.
Anda Zhang, also from China, stormed into the semifinals by whacking compatriot Lu Ning in straight frames with the scores of 61-56, 67-42, 87-24, 59-51, 108-0 while Noppon Saengkham of Thailand blanked Laxman Rawat of India in straight frames with the scores of 83-0, 79-41, 64-44, 104-4, 75-4.
Hossein Ayouri had to work little harder than anticipated in the quarter-finals while outwitting compatriot Amir Sarkhosh 5-2 with the frame scores of 57-11, 57-53, 54-63, 71-1, 64-8, 38-64, 63-44.
Neither of the Pakistani cueist could force way into the last eight as both Mohammad Hunain Aamir and Mohammad Majid Ali, were defeated in the pre-quarter-finals after having fared well in the league matches. A total of 33 cueists from 10 countries entered the eight-day event, which was inaugurated on April 2.
