Latest news with #IBSF
Arab News
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Arab News
Pakistani cueist Muhammad Asif advances to IBSF World Masters final in Bahrain
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Muhammad Asif has qualified for the final of the Masters category at the IBSF World Snooker Championships in Bahrain, defeating India's Manan Chandra 4-2 in the semifinal, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Friday. The 42‑year‑old from Faisalabad — a three‑time IBSF World Amateur Champion (2012, 2019, 2024) and recipient of Pakistan's Pride of Performance Award in 2015 — took the first frame 118‑6 before conceding the next two, then reeled off three straight wins to secure his place in the final. He will now face Brijesh Damani in the final, scheduled for Friday, 6pm Bahrain Time, 8pm PKT, the IBSF said in a post on Instagram. 'Another Pakistan cueist Hasnain Akhtar has also reached final in the U-17 category of IBSF World Masters Final after beating Oliwier Nizialek of Poland by 4-0,' Radio Pakistan reported. Asif qualified for the semifinals of the masters after defeating Habib Sabah (Bahrain) 4-0 (68(68)-8, 57-37, 68(68)-8, 40(40)-8) in the quarterfinal on Thursday. In the pre-quarterfinals, Asif defeated Mohamed Shehab (UAE) 4-2 (56-68, 21-72, 57-21, 80(80)-0, 68-45(43), 68-58). The IBSF World Snooker Championships are being held in Manama from July 13–24 and feature top amateur players in Masters and youth categories. Pakistan has a long record of success in amateur snooker.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Weston has 'pressure' and 'confidence' for Olympics
Matt Weston won the World Championships and overall World Cup title this spring to be ranked world number one [Getty Images] Skeleton champion Matt Weston says he feels both "pressure" and "confidence" going into next February's Winter Olympics as world number one. Weston won his second world title at Lake Placid in March after defending his overall World Cup title in February, and sits at the top of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) world rankings. Advertisement The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will take place in and around Milan, Italy, from 6-22 February 2026. "I definitely feel a bit of pressure going into this games as world number one," Weston told BBC Radio Somerset. "It carries some pressure with it but at the same time it carries some confidence. You get a heightened version of both." Next year will be his second Winter Olympics after he finished 15th in Beijing in 2022 just two years after making his World Cup race debut. He represented England in taekwondo when he was a teenager and also played rugby until discovering skeleton via a talent spotting scheme. Advertisement By January 2023 he won the European Championships and followed it two weeks later with his debut world title - Great Britain's first since for nine years. "When I first won the World Championships I was still relatively an underdog, I was still unexpected. That season with a massive breakthrough season for me," Weston said. "The next season the whole dynamic changed, I did become the guy with the target on my back, I did become that guy that everyone was chasing down. "That was hard for me to adjust to and deal with it and the different pressures that brings, but I'm got pretty used to it. I've turned it into something I enjoy and quite like." Weston (on the track) and Marcus Wyatt are competitors but supportive team-mates [Getty Images] Weston, from Surrey, is part of the wider skeleton and bobsleigh Great Britain team based at the University of Bath. Advertisement Team-mate Marcus Wyatt won silver behind him at the World Championships two months ago and Weston believes the strength in the squad is pushing all athletes on. "We're so highly competitive, we're so driven, we're so motivated for this that that almost becomes the environment which is amazing. It feels really special to be part of a group like that," Weston said. "It's not just one person having ok success, it's the whole squad having great success and that's the reason I'm in the position I am today, it's the whole team around me." Next up for Weston is a pre-season trip to Norway before he heads to Innsbruck, Austria, and then Milan to train on the Winter Olympics track for the first time. Advertisement "[It is] hectic from as soon as I step on that plane at the end of September, start of October, right up until I'm on the start line in Milan," Weston said. "I'm looking to come home with the gold medal, that's all I'm thinking of at the moment."
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Weston has 'pressure' and 'confidence' for Olympics
Skeleton champion Matt Weston says he feels both "pressure" and "confidence" going into next February's Winter Olympics as world number won his second world title at Lake Placid in March after defending his overall World Cup title in February, and sits at the top of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) world Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will take place in and around Milan, Italy, from 6-22 February 2026."I definitely feel a bit of pressure going into this games as world number one," Weston told BBC Radio Somerset."It carries some pressure with it but at the same time it carries some confidence. You get a heightened version of both." Next year will be his second Winter Olympics after he finished 15th in Beijing in 2022 just two years after making his World Cup race debut. He represented England in taekwondo when he was a teenager and also played rugby until discovering skeleton via a talent spotting January 2023 he won the European Championships and followed it two weeks later with his debut world title - Great Britain's first since for nine years."When I first won the World Championships I was still relatively an underdog, I was still unexpected. That season with a massive breakthrough season for me," Weston said. "The next season the whole dynamic changed, I did become the guy with the target on my back, I did become that guy that everyone was chasing down. "That was hard for me to adjust to and deal with it and the different pressures that brings, but I'm got pretty used to it. I've turned it into something I enjoy and quite like." Weston, from Surrey, is part of the wider skeleton and bobsleigh Great Britain team based at the University of Marcus Wyatt won silver behind him at the World Championships two months ago and Weston believes the strength in the squad is pushing all athletes on."We're so highly competitive, we're so driven, we're so motivated for this that that almost becomes the environment which is amazing. It feels really special to be part of a group like that," Weston said."It's not just one person having ok success, it's the whole squad having great success and that's the reason I'm in the position I am today, it's the whole team around me."Next up for Weston is a pre-season trip to Norway before he heads to Innsbruck, Austria, and then Milan to train on the Winter Olympics track for the first time. "[It is] hectic from as soon as I step on that plane at the end of September, start of October, right up until I'm on the start line in Milan," Weston said."I'm looking to come home with the gold medal, that's all I'm thinking of at the moment."
Express Tribune
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Express Tribune
Asif and Awais reach Asian team championship semis
It was a big day for Pakistan at the Asian 6 Red & Team Championship 2025 on Friday as four top cueists in two teams, Pakistan 1 and Pakistan 2 contended for the semifinal spot in Colombo on Friday. However, it was the three-time IBSF World Champion Muhammad Asif paired with Awais Munir who emerged as the winners from the quarterfinal encounter. They defeated Muhammad Sajjad and Shahid Aftab in Pakistan 2 side 3-1, only dropping the second frame in the best-of-five match. Asif and Awais took the first frame conveniently 74(52)-53(53) but Sajjad and Shahid levelled the match in the second frame, taking it 66-27. But Asif and Awais made sure that they make any mistakes in the following two frames 61-22, 78(62)-1 to seal the win. Pakistan 1 will play Malaysia in the semifinal on Saturday. The championship began on June 22nd and it will conclude on Sunday. Earlier, Pakistan 2 were defeated by China 3-1, whereas Pakistan 1 defeated hosts Sri Lanka 1 3-1 in their first match of the day, and then Pakistan 2 defeated Sri Lankan 2 in their second match on Friday before booking the place in the all-Pakistan quarterfinal. Today, Asif will be looking to win the championship to make up for his defeat in the Asian 6 Red men's championship, where he lost in the semifinal to Malaysia's Thor Chun Leong on Wednesday, finishing with a bronze medal. Meanwhile, India will be taking on Hong Kong 1 in the first semifinal of the day on Saturday. India defeated Qatar 3-0 in their quarterfinal and Hong Kong 1 outplayed Bahrain 3-0 to progress into the last-four round.
The Hindu
24-06-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Paras Gupta storms into semifinals at Asian Snooker
India's Paras Gupta, who outplayed reigning IBSF World 6-Red snooker champion Kamal Chawla earlier in the day, scored a crushing 5-0 win over Sunny Wang to storm into the semifinals of the ACBS Asian 6-Red Snooker on Tuesday (June 24, 2025). The 29-year-old Agra cueist played the big points well to put it past the Singaporean, who had earlier shocked former champion Muhammad Sajjad of Pakistan 5-0. After taking the re-spotted black in the first frame, Gupta lacked the usual fluency. Although he went up 2-0 with a run of 28 in the second, he was not in control of the proceedings. Fortunately for him, Wang failed to take the chances that came his way and let Gupta off the hook. Gupta took the scrappy third and fourth frames to go up 4-0. It was only in the final frame that the Indian rediscovered his touch, making a silken-smooth break of 59 to close out the match. In the semifinals, he will face either Habib Sabah (Bahrain) or Ali Al Obaidli (Qatar). Earlier in the morning session, Gupta carried far too many guns for Chawla, scoring a lopsided 5-2 victory. After taking the opening frame comfortably, he had runs of 47 and 30 to take a quick 3-0 lead in the best-of-nine frame encounter, and he seldom let the advantage slip. Results: Quarterfinals: Paras Gupta (Ind) beat Sunny Wang (Sin) 5-0 (35-28, 44-9, 40-2, 53-12, 59 (59) -0). Pre-quarters: Paras Gupta beat Kamal Chawla (Ind) 5-2 (45-0, 63 (47) -4, 36 (30) -19, 26-35, 41-34, 25-34, 37 (33) -0).
