Muhammad Asif (snooker player)

Muhammad Asif (Urdu: محمد آصف) is a Pakistani Professional snooker player who represents Pakistan in different international tournaments. He is a two-time winner of the amateur IBSF World Snooker Championship. In 2022, he turned professional.

Muhammad Asif
Born (1982-03-17) 17 March 1982
Faisalabad, Pakistan
Sport country Pakistan
Professional2022 – present
Highest ranking82 (June 2023)
Current ranking 85 (as of 16 October 2023)
Best ranking finishLast 32 (2023 English Open)
Muhammad Asif
AwardsPride of Performance Award by the Government of Pakistan in 2015

Career

In December 2012, Asif won the IBSF World Snooker Championship held in Sofia, Bulgaria, by defeating England's Gary Wilson 10–8.[1][2]

In August 2017, Asif and Babar Masih representing Pakistan-2 defeated Muhammad Sajjad and Asjad Iqbal representing Pakistan-1 to win the IBSF World 6-Red Team Championship.[3]

In September 2018, Asif along with Babar Masih won the Asian Team Snooker Championship held in Doha, Qatar, by defeating India's Pankaj Advani and Malkeet Singh 3–2 in the final.[4]

In November 2019, Asif defeated Jeffrey Roda of the Philippines 8–5 in Antalya, Turkey to win his second IBSF World Snooker Championship title. He returned to a hero's welcome in Karachi.[5]

Asif earned a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour by qualifying through in the first event of the Asia-Oceania 2022 Q School, beating Asjad Iqbal.[6]

Four-time British Open champion Stephen Hendry suffered a 4-2 loss to Muhammad Asif in the first round of this year's tournament in Leicester.

Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament 2013/
14		 2014/
15		 2015/
16		 2022/
23		 2023/
24
Ranking[7][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 82
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking A RR
European Masters Not Held A LQ
British Open Not Held WD 1R
English Open Not Held 1R 2R
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held LQ
Northern Ireland Open Not Held WD LQ
International Championship A A A NH LQ
UK Championship A A A LQ
Shoot Out Non-Ranking 1R
Scottish Open Not Held LQ
World Grand Prix NH NR DNQ DNQ
German Masters A A A LQ
Welsh Open A A A LQ
Players Championship[nb 4] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Open A A A NH
Tour Championship Not Held DNQ
World Championship A A A LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship RR 2R 3R LQ
Former ranking tournaments
WST Classic Not Held 2R NH
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)		 QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Heldevent was not held
NR / Non-Ranking Eventevent is/was no longer a ranking event
R / Ranking Eventevent is/was a ranking event
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventevent is/was a minor-ranking event
  1. It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. He was an amateur
  3. New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking
  4. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2013/2014-2015/2016)

Career finals

Team finals: 4 (3 titles)
Outcome No. Year Championship Team/Partner Opponent(s) in the final Score
Winner 1. 2013[8] IBSF Team Snooker Championships  Pakistan
Muhammad Sajjad		  Iran
Amir Sarkhosh
Soheil Vahedi		 5–3
Runner-up 1. 2014[9] IBSF Team Snooker Championships  Pakistan
Muhammad Sajjad		  Hong Kong 1
Fung Kwok Wai
Lee Chun Wai		 3–5
Winner 2. 2017[10] IBSF Team Snooker Championships  Pakistan 2
Babar Masih		  Pakistan 1
Muhammad Sajjad
Asjad Iqbal		 5–4
Winner 3. 2018[11] ACBS Team Snooker Championships  Pakistan 1
Babar Masih		  India 1
Pankaj Advani
Malkeet Singh		 3–2

Amateur finals: 7 (6 titles)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2009 Pakistan Amateur Championship (1) Pakistan Muhammad Sajjad 6–2
Winner 2. 2012[12] World Amateur Championship (1) England Gary Wilson 10–8
Winner 3. 2013 Asian 6-Reds Championship Iran Amir Sarkhosh 7–4
Winner 4. 2018 Pakistan Amateur Championship (2) Pakistan Mohammad Bilal 8–5
Runner-up 1. 2019[13] IBSF World 6-Reds Snooker Championship India Laxman Rawat 5–6
Winner 5. 2019[14] World Amateur Championship (2) Philippines Jefrey Roda 8–5
Winner 6. 2020 Pakistan Amateur Championship (3) Pakistan Shahid Aftab 8–7

Awards and recognition

See also

References
  1. "Muhammad Asif victorious in World Snooker Championship final". The Express Tribune. 2012-12-02. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  2. "Asif claims IBSF World Snooker Championship title". Dawn. 2012-12-02. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  3. Raheel, Natasha (2017-08-11). "World 6-Red Team Championship: All-Pakistan final won by Asif, Babar". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  4. Raheel, Natasha (2018-09-22). "Pakistan defeat India to win Asian Team Snooker Championship". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  5. "Brilliant Asif tames Roda to regain IBSF World Snooker title". Dawn. 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  6. "Results (Q School 1 Asia & Oceania 2022) - snooker.org". www.snooker.org. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  7. "Ranking History - snooker.org". www.snooker.org. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  8. "IBSF Team Snooker Championships Men - Carlow / Ireland 2013". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  9. "IBSF Team Snooker Championships Men - Sharm-el-Sheikh / Egypt 2014". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  10. "IBSF Team Snooker Championships Men - Hurghada / Egypt 2017". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  11. "ACBS Team Snooker Championships Men - Doha / Qatar 2018". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  12. "World Snooker Championship Men → Sofia - Bulgaria 2012". esnooker.pl.
  13. "IBSF 6 reds Snooker Championships Men - Mandalay / Myanmar 2019". esnooker.pl.
  14. "IBSF Snooker Championships Men - Antalya / Turkey 2019". esnooker.pl.
  15. In recognition: Two women among 36 honoured for their services The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 23 March 2015, Retrieved 21 August 2023
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