Indore: India’s Shahbaz Khan staved off a tough fight from Syrian Karam Fatima to remain Group E leader on the fourth day of Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship here on Saturday.
After losing first frame, Shahbaz won second frame in style. He did not give any chance to the Syrian player and crafted breaks of 40 and 49 to win the frame.
In the third frame, Fatima made a comeback to go ahead 2-1 before Shahbaz pocketed the rest two frames and retained top slot of the group at Yeshwant Club here.
Meanwhile, all the Thai players have confirmed their berth for knock-out stage (Pre-Quarter Finals).
Pachara Mayone retained top slot of his group beating Varun Madan 3-1, though Yuttapop Pakpoj and Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon has yet to play for group position match and Chinnapat Kamsad has finished as number two.
Other foreign players who qualified so far for knock-out stage are Soheil Vahedi (Iran), Mohd. Lababi (Iran), Liu Chuang (China), Li Han (China), Chua Weisheng Javier (Singapore), Karam Fatima (Syria) and Mohd. Kamali (UAE).
PTI
First Published: Saturday, April 10, 2010, 21:50