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’s lost in the semi-finals to India’s Paras Gupta (1-5) in a match where he did not display his usual form — surprising given that 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. The national team has been drawn into a challenging Group 1 alongside: Pakistan, Singapore and Cambodia
Qatar is set to play two matches today — against Singapore and Pakistan — and will conclude the group stage tomorrow with a match against Cambodia.
