Asjad Iqbal stuns India's Advani to reach Snooker World Cup semi-finals

KARACHI: Pakistan's seasoned cueist Asjad Iqbal outclassed India's Pankaj Advani 4-0 in the World Cup of Snooker quarter-final here at the Active Oman Sports and Entertainment Hub in Muscat on Tuesday.

Asjad got off to a blazing start to the knockout fixture as he registered a sensational break of 81 to clinch the opening frame 100-0.

Advani managed to offer some resistance in the subsequent frame, scoring a total of 37 points, but Asjad moved 2-0 up by piling up 92.

The third frame saw Asjad registering another 50-plus break (68) and effortlessly won it 117-16 to move one within victory.

He denied Advani any chance to force a comeback and won the decisive fourth frame 83-21 to round up a perfect 4-0 victory, which propelled him into the semi-finals, where he will square off against France's Nicolas Mortreux, who booked his place in the Final Four by defeating Hong Kong China's Nansen Wan 4-1.

For the unversed, Asjad Iqbal defeated another Indian opponent, Hussain Khan, 3-0 in the round of 32.

Interestingly, after the match, both players showed sportsmanship by shaking hands and also hugged each other, which is a rare occurrence due to India's politicisation of sports, which emerged from the ACC Men's T20 Asia Cup 2025 in September.

The arch rivals met thrice in the continental tournament, and Indian players noticeably avoided post-toss and post-match handshakes with their Pakistan counterparts.

The controversy did not remain limited to the men’s events, as a similar situation occurred at the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, where both teams' captains, Harmanpreet Kaur and Fatima Sana, avoided shaking hands at the toss.

The handshake controversy between the arch-rivals resurfaced 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.