BANGKOK // Abu Dhabi's Mohammed Shehab confirmed his place in the knockout stages of the Sangsom Six Reds World Grand Prix here in Bangkok yesterday with a superb victory over one of snooker's most well-known players, Jimmy White. Shehab defeated the "Whirlwind" 5-3 to head his group, though the overall group winner will only be decided when he faces unbeaten Thai, Issara Kachaiwong, in his final group match today .
Shehab, 31, a first lieutenant in the Abu Dhabi police force, found himself 2-1 down against the six-times losing World Championship finalist but squared the match on the black and never looked back. His victory comes a day after his magnificent win over Joe Swail, the 10th best player in the world. It was White's second defeat and his place in the last 32 now depends on the outcome of his final match against Joe Perry as well as the results of others.
Shehab's UAE teammate, Mohammed al Joker, suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat at the hands of the holder, Ricky Walden who the previous day suffered his first tournament defeat following 14 successive victories, when losing 5-1 to Judd Trump. Walden amassed 263 points compared to al Joker's 15. But the Dubai based police officer is still in with a chance of qualifying for today's knock-out phase. That will depend on the outcome of his match against Hong Kong's Fung Kwok Wai with Walden and Trump already through and two more places up for grabs.
Trump, Kachaiwong, Thepchaiya Un Nooh, Shaun Murphy, and Mark King are the five players yet to lose a match in an event which carries a first prize of 1 million bahts (Dh108,000). @Email:jdee@thenational.ae
