Pakistan's top cueman Muhammad Asif advanced in the last 32 round of IBSF World Snooker Championship in Sofia (Bulgaria) with an impressive 4-1 victory over Egyptian cueist Yaser Elsherbiny on Thursday. However debutant and Pakistan No 2, Asjad Iqbal made his exit from the event after he went down fighting 3-4 against Billy Castle of England.
30-year-old from Faisalabad, Asif taking part in his second world event, dominated against Yaser with consistent potting and fine cue control. After conjuring up the first three frames, Asif lost the fourth frame. But he quickly sealed the fate of the match by grabbing the deciding fifth frame without much fuss to complete 65-28, 109-26, 78-45, 28-69, 59-6 win.
Snooker prodigy Asjad Iqbal from Sargodha, battled hard before losing the deciding final frame after a keenly fought encounter. After conceding 1-3 lead to Castle, Asjad showed a remarkable comeback by grabbing the next two frames to level the terms 3-all. Englishman however produced a superb display and strong potting to chalk out 108-16, 65-44, 7-94, 95-9, 40-66, 44-83, 88-16.