Dubai: In-form UAE cueist Mohammad Shehab notched two more impressive wins to capture the top spot in Group H at the 2011 IBSF World Snooker Championship being played in Bengaluru, India.
Shehab, who has been in great form in the tournament, scored a convincing 4-1 win over South African Pierre Jordaan and then brushed aside Susantha Boteju of Sri Lanka 4-0.
While Shehab is guaranteed a place in the last 32 stage of the championship through his top-ranked finish in Group H, compatriot Mohammad Al Joker also advanced to the last 48 but not before spending some anxious moments on the sidelines of the arena.
Al Joker suffered a shock 4-2 defeat to Sweden's Farhan Mirza in his last match in Group K leaving him with only a mathematical chance of going through to the knockout stages of the tournament in which 86 players from 42 countries are taking part.
Scrapes through
But, when the 2002 world champion and 2004 runner-up Steve Mifsud of Australia handed Mirza a 4-2 beating yesterday evening celebrations broke out in the UAE camp as the result meant a place for Al Joker in the last round.
He had earlier lost his second match 4-0 to Mifsud on Monday but made amends by pulling off a comeback 4-3 win over Ali Abdul Mohsin of Iraq on Tuesday night, recovering from the brink of defeat.
Meanwhile, hosts India suffered a big blow when Yasin Merchant, Alok Kumar, Manan Chandra, Neeraj Kumar and Balaji Reddy all lost their matches. However, Pankaj Advani and Kamal Chawla won comfortably.
