War of nerves ends with Agha grabbing the glory

Dubai: The face-off between Mohammad Al Joker and Pakistan's Khurram Agha was expected to be a war of nerves.

Agha had had the better of Al Joker in the same competition in Karachi in 2007, and UAE fans were expecting a reversal this year.

Agha, however, tightened his stranglehold over the UAE player by winning four frames to two.

However, the win does not affect Al Joker's chances of moving into the next round as he had already won enough frames won in his previous games to edge out Agha from the top spot. Thailand's Passakorn Suwannawat would do well to forget this tournament after losing four of his five encounters, some to opponents he would have normally thrashed.

Pressure game

His good form before landing in Dubai, deserted him, and he appeared to succumb to the pressure.

His compatriot Noppadol Sangneil is also catching an early flight to Bangkok, having failed to advance to the knockout stages. He lost out to A Bulajiang of China and Fung Kwok Wai of Hong Kong.

Group G had its share of surprises when Susantha Boteju of Sri Lanka, joined Moh Keen Ho of Malaysia in the pre-quarterfinals.

Fast improving

Renat William from Iraq, one of the fastest improving players on the amateur Asian circuit, failed to make the cut, despite some intermittent display of top class snooker.

Crowd favourite, Mohammad Shehab continued his march towards glory by knocking out Keith Boon from Singapore.

In this kind of form only a natural disaster can prevent him from lifting his maiden crown.