Ahsan Ramzan to Clash with Hasnain Akhtar in Pre-Quarters

MANAMA: Promising Pakistani snooker player Ahsan Ramzan has progressed to the last 16 of the IBSF World U21 Snooker Championship. He secured his spot by defeating Shahyan Razmi of India in a closely fought match held at the Crowne Plaza Bahrain on Tuesday.

In a nail-biting encounter, Ahsan displayed composure and skill, overturning a 1-2 deficit to claim a 3-2 victory. The scores were 44-88, 68-26, 36-66, 91-37, and 61-19. This triumph sets up an all-Pakistani showdown in the next round, where Ahsan will compete against Hasnain Akhtar.

Hasnain Akhtar, the current World Under-17 Snooker Champion, directly qualified for the last 16 after dominating his group in the initial stages. These two emerging talents will now compete for a coveted spot in the quarterfinals.

Other Matches

Earlier in the IBSF World 6-Red Championship, Muhammad Asif, Shahid Aftab, and Ahsan also secured their places in the knockout rounds.

The players advanced to the Round of 32 by winning two of their three group matches.

On the final day of the 6-Red event’s group stage, Shahid Aftab triumphed over Scotland’s Ayaan Iqbal with a score of 4–1.

However, Ahsan faced defeat against India’s Paras Gupta, and Asif was bested by India’s Aditya Mehta.

Despite these losses in their final group matches, Asif and Ahsan still managed to qualify for the round of 32 due to their previous victories.

The fourth Pakistani participant, Hasnain Akhtar, was unable to progress to the knockout stage after losing his final group match to a player from Saudi Arabia.

In the World under-21 category, Hasnain secured his third straight win by defeating Romania’s David Nistor 3–0. His perfect record allowed him to advance directly to the Round of 16.

Ahsan also secured a spot in the knockout stage of the World under-21 event, despite a 3–1 defeat in his final group match against Hong Kong’s Lingyi Ryan Lee. He will now participate in the Round of 32.

Notably, in the ongoing IBSF World Snooker events in Bahrain, Hasnain secured the world under-17 title last week, while Asif won the world six-red snooker championship.