KARACHI: Pakistan’s experienced cueist Asjad Iqbal outclassed India’s Pankaj Advani 4-0 in the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Cup at the Active Oman Sports and Entertainment Hub in Muscat, Oman on Tuesday.
Asjad made an incredible start to the knockout tie, making a superb break of 81 to take the first frame 100-0. Advani put up resistance in the next frame with 37, but Asjad collected 92 to take a 2-0 lead.
The third frame saw Asjad post another 50+ break (68) and win it effortlessly 117-16 to move one up on victory.
He denied Advani any chance to force a comeback and won the decisive fourth frame 83-21 to complete a perfect 4-0 victory that sent him into the semi-finals, where he will face France’s Nicolas Mortreux, who booked his place in the Final Four by beating Hong Kong’s Nansen Wan 4-1.
For the underdogs, Asjad Iqbal defeated another Indian opponent, Hussain Khan, 3-0 in the round of 32.
Interestingly, after the match both the players showed sportsmanship by shaking hands and also hugging each other, which is a rare occurrence due to the politicization of sports in India, arising from the ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 in September.
The arch-rivals have met three times in the continental tournament and Indian players noticeably avoided post-toss and post-match handshakes with their Pakistani counterparts.
The controversy was not limited to the men’s events as a similar situation occurred at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s World Cup 2025 where the captains of the two teams, Harmanpreet Kaur and Fatima Sana, avoided shaking hands during the toss.
The handshake controversy between the arch-rivals reignited on Sunday during the ACC Men’s Asia Cup Rising Stars 2025 clash between India ‘A’ and Pakistan Shaheens as captains Jitesh Sharma and Irfan Niazi skipped the customary handshake at the toss.
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