UAE's Mohammed Shehab |
The UAE, however, had already qualified for the last four stage by winning three of their four group games. Pakistan topped the group on a higher aggregate of games won.
In today's semifinals Pakistan take on Group B runners-up Malaysia while UAE A come up against Malaysia, who beat UAE C to remain undefeated in the group.
UAE No.1 Mohammed Shehab beat the dangerous Saleh Mohammed but his teammates Mohammed Al Joker and the gutsy Eissa Sayed both lost to Mohammed Yousuf and Khurram Agha respectively.
Earlier in the afternoon, Singapore beat Asian snooker powerhouse Thailand in their final league match, while in an inconsequential Group 'B' match India defeated UAE C 3-0.
Singapore's top ranked player Lim Chun Kiat lived up to his reputation when he won a dour seven-frame clash with Thailand's Nithiwat Kajanasri to clinch the tie for the winners.
With a touching faith in the future Singapore coach Fan Kian Sang said after the win: "We're a bit unlucky not to qualify but on a more positive note I think we had a good tournament. The performance of our players augurs well for the future.
"Obviously the main goal is the Asian Games in South Korea next month, but we still have quite a bit of preparation and practicing. However, we go there in an upbeat mood."
Kiat, came into the Dubai tournament having recently won a Singapore ranking tournament with a series of sizzling performances where he did not drop a single frame from the quarterfinal stages of the event.
But he still needed to dig deep to see off Thai No. 3 Nithiwat Kajanasri who, but for one bad frame (the fourth), stood toe-to-toe with Kiat during the three-hour marathon contest.
There was little to separate the players in the match and the seventh and final frame best illustrated the closeness of the match. For the record Kiat won the frame 62-52 but not before Kunthawang made him work hard for victory.
Earlier Thailand's reigning South East Asian Games gold medallist Somporn Kunthawang suffered a straight-frames humiliation at the hands of Singapore national champion Keith Boon, won all but one of his matches in the tournament.
"It was a very good result considering Somporn's reputation," said Fan. "Wins like these make all the difference and help build up the confidence levels."
Boon rolled in breaks of 89, 46 and 57 to record a regulation 4-o victory over Somporn.
Thailand No. 1 Noppadon Noppachorn, one of the most impressive players in the tournament, made amends when he routed Singapore's Ang Chi Wai 4-0.
Noppachorn had control of the table with breaks of 61, 42 and 80 to win inside 90 minutes.
Earlier Malaysia outplayed the UAE youth team 3-0. Jassim Al Rais won the only frame of the afternoon for the UAE as Ooi Fook Yuen whitewashed Mohammed Bel Gazi 3-0 and Ng Ann Seng defeated Ali Bafroosha by a similar scoreline.
Jassim lost 4-1 to Malaysian veteran Sam Chong despite winning the first frame in convincing fashion at 54-1.
