Pakistan’s Mohamed Bilal and Babar Masih entered the semi-finals of the  Asian 6 Red Snooker Championship at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation (QBSF) Hall yesterday. 
In the last four clash today, Bilal will take on Cheung Ka Wai of Hong Kong, while Masih locks horns with Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon of Thailand. Masih, along with Mohamed Asif, had bagged the Asian Team Snooker Championship on Friday.
Three Qatar players Ahmed Saif, Ali Alobaidli and former World 6 Reds No 4 Mohsen Bukshaisha had booked their spot in the knockouts. While Bukshaisha lost in the quarter-finals, Saif and Alobaidli were knocked out in the last 16. Bukshaisha was outclassed by 19-year-old sensation Cheung 1-6 in the quarters. Cheung, who had topped the group stages, had beaten Alobaidli in the last 16.
Saif, who had finished second in the league stage having lost just one frame only, crashed out of the competition after losing to Fung Kwok Wai of Hong Kong. 
Meanwhile, India’s Kamal Chawla, Varun Madan and Ishpreet Singh Chadha went down in the last 16. Today, the two semi-finals will be played at 10 am, while the final is scheduled for 4pm. The top three will get a chance to play in the newly- introduced Asian Ranking Tour 2018, the first leg of which will be played in Doha from tomorrow till Saturday. After successful launch of World Team Cup of Snooker, now IBSF and ACBS are jointly introducing new format of 10 Reds Snooker. The new format will be played in a series of three championships during September-October 2018. 
A total 24 players are invited for this year’s Ranking Tour as per following criteria: 2 players from each host countries + two extra when event is held in host country; 2 players from Europe, 1 Africa and 1 Oceania; 6 from Asia
Total Prize fund of each championship is $40,000. The break-up of Prize money is: Winner: $12,000; runner-Up: $ 6,000; semi-finalist: $3,000; quarter-finalist: $1500; Pre-quarter-finalist: $750 and last 24  $500.