A file photo of Ali Al Obaidly in action.
Doha: Team Qatar experienced mixed fortunes in the round robin stage at the 2025 Asian Team Snooker Team Championship in Colombo, securing a victory against hosts Sri Lanka before going down in a thrilling contest against Pakistan, yesterday.
At the Moors Sports Club in Colombo, the Qatar team, comprising Ali Al Obaidly, Bashar Abdul Majeed and Mohanna Al Obaidli secured a 3-1 win over Sri Lanka 1 Team of Irshath Mohamed Thaha and Mohamed Rikaz.
Despite Al Obaidli losing the first frame 56-21 to Thaha, Qatar stormed back with a dominant show when Majeed outscored Rikaz 71-0. The team then defeated the hosts 87-18, powered by a 59-point break before Al Obaidly sealed the convincing 3-1 victory with a strong 71-37 score against Thaha in the fifth frame.
In their second encounter, Pakistan 1’s Awais Ullah Munir and the reigning IBSF World Men’s Snooker Champion Muhammad Asif were too good for the Qatari trio.
Al Obaidly started strong, taking the first frame 81-47 after a 60-point break to give Qatar a 1-0 lead, but team couldn’t maintain the momentum against the formidable Pakistani duo.
Pakistan captured the next three frames with scores of 82-23, 63-30 and 62-16 to seal the contest 3-1.
Today, Qatar will meet Cambodia in their third and final round robin clash.
Al Obaidly has already excelled in Colombo, winning a bronze medal in the 6-Red singles competition on Wednesday. Al Obaidly, a former IBSF World Men’s Snooker Champion, finished second in his group and secured knockout stage wins against opponents from Cambodia and Bahrain to earn a spot in the semi-finals, where he was defeated 1-5 by India’s Paras Gupta.
The tournament, hosted by the Billiards & Snooker Association of Sri Lanka (BSASL) under the auspices of Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports (ACBS), concludes tomorrow.
