Colombo: Qatar’s Ali Al-Obaidly secured the bronze medal in the 6-ball singles category at the Asian Snooker Championship, currently taking place in Sri Lanka until June 28.
Al-Obaidly was defeated 1-5 by India’s Paras Gupta in the semi-finals, in a performance that fell short of his usual standards — a surprise, considering he was the 2023 world champion in the same category. Malaysia’s Thor Chuan Leong claimed the gold medal, defeating Gupta 6-2. Pakistan’s Muhammad Asif, who was defeated by Thor in the other semi-final (2-5), also took home bronze.
Al-Obaidly delivered a strong performance throughout the tournament. He finished second in his group, defeating Hong Kong’s Yu Kyu Chang (4-0) and Bangladesh’s Muntaser Siddiqui (4-1), while losing to Singapore’s Sunny Wang (0-4). Advancing as group runner-up, Al-Obaidly faced Sauchitaphim Loon of Cambodia in the round of 16, securing a 5-1 victory. He then defeated Bahrain’s Habib Sabah 5-3 in the quarter-finals, before falling to Gupta in the semis.
Meanwhile, fellow Qatari player Muhanna Al-Obaidly competed in Group 4, finishing third with one win and two losses, exiting in the group stage. Bashar Hussein, competing in Group 8, lost all three of his matches and also exited early.
Qatar will now shift focus to the team competition, which begins today.
