Al Joker, Shehab tied at the top

The UAE's two best snooker players Mohammed Al Joker and Mohammed Shehab are tied at the top of the standings at the end of the second round of qualifying to choose the national squad for next year.

At the end of the second qualifying round held last week, Al Joker and Shehab are tied in first place with 70 points each. In third place are Obaid Khalifa and Essa Sayyed with 33 points apiece.

Shehab collected the top cash prize award of Dh4,000, while Al Joker had to stay content with Dh1,500 for his efforts.

Yayha Al Suweidi is in fifth place, Zayed Al Mazroei in sixth, Salim bin Dhiban in seventh and Rashid Al Shekeli in eighth slot.

In the final of the second qualifier played at the Dubai Snooker Club last week, Shehab got the better of Al Joker 4-1 to collect a maximum 42 points and stay tied at the top of the rankings to choose the national team for 2004.

Al Joker had won the inaugural round held at the DSC last month to stay ahead of his younger opponent from Abu Dhabi. But Shehab turned the tables on the experienced Al Joker in the second round last week to collect 42 points and remain tied at the top.

At the end of the initial stages of the second competition, Shehab, Al Joker, Essa Al Sayyed, Obaid Khalifa, Obaid Al Sharif, Hani Al Khoory, Yahya Al Suweidi and Salim bin Dhiban made it to the quarter-finals as the best eight players.

In the semi-finals, Shehab got past Obaid Khalifa 4-2, while Al Joker sidestepped Al Suweidi 4-1. In the final, Shehab proved too strong for the reigning champion to walk away with maximum points.