Dubai: It was a matter of experience triumphing over youth as Adel Mohammad Ali beat Khalid Ali Kamali in a nervous final to clinch the 2009 In House Tournament organised by Dubai Snooker Club.
No 6 seed Ali, who made his way to the final with a well-earned 4-2 win over the No 2 seed Abdul Rahman Saif, completed an identical 4-2 victory over the top UAE Junior Kamali, who was the favourite to lift the title after blanking Marwan Ebrahim 4-0 in the semifinal.
The lead changed hands during the first four frames, with Ali surging ahead and Kamali having to peg him back and vice versa.
Ali won the first frame 71-59, with Kamali close at his heels, but the latter played with much aggression and drew level by clinching the second frame comfortably at 59-19.
Kamali then went ahead for the first time when he held off a resilient Ali to claim the third frame 69-40.
Following the break, though, the momentum of the match tilted in favour of Ali. Suddenly, as Kamali's accuracy began to wane, Ali seemed the sharper. He played percentage snooker, but kept himself error free even as Kamali's game began to look increasingly erroneous.
Ali pounced on Kamali's every mistake and claimed the fourth frame 50-13 to make it two frames apiece. The last two frames were a walk in the park for Ali who continued to play with much caution and ended up winning the next fifth and sixth frames 68-15, 70-32 for a well-deserved 4-2 win in the best-of-seven frames final.
