Muhammad Asif (snooker player)

Muhammad Asif
Born	17 March 1982 (age 42); Faisalabad, Pakistan
Sport country	Pakistan
Professional	2022–present
Highest ranking	82 (June 2023)
Best ranking finish	Last 32 (2023 English Open)

Muhammad Asif (Urdu: محمد آصف) is a Pakistani professional snooker player. He is a three-time winner of the amateur IBSF World Snooker Championship. He turned professional in 2022.

Career

In December 2012, Asif won the IBSF World Snooker Championship held in Sofia, Bulgaria, by defeating England's Gary Wilson 10–8.^[1]^[2]

In August 2017, Asif and Babar Masih representing Pakistan-2 defeated Muhammad Sajjad and Asjad Iqbal representing Pakistan-1 to win the IBSF World 6-Red Team Championship.^[3]

In September 2018, Asif along with Babar Masih won the Asian Team Snooker Championship held in Doha, Qatar, by defeating India's Pankaj Advani and Malkeet Singh 3–2 in the final.^[4]

In November 2019, Asif defeated Jeffrey Roda of the Philippines 8–5 in Antalya, Turkey to win his second IBSF World Snooker Championship title. He returned to a hero's welcome in Karachi.^[5]

Asif earned a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour by qualifying through in the first event of the Asia-Oceania 2022 Q School, beating Asjad Iqbal.^[6]

In 2023, in the British Open's qualifying round, Asif defeated seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry 4-2.^[7]^[8]

In November 2024, Asif won the IBSF World Snooker Championship held in Doha, Qatar, with a 5-3 win over Iran's Ali Gharahgozlou.^[9]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	2013/ 14	2014/ 15	2015/ 16	2022/ 23	2023/ 24
Ranking^[10]^{[nb 1]}	^{[nb 2]}	^{[nb 2]}	^{[nb 2]}	^{[nb 3]}	82
Ranking tournaments
Championship League	Non-Ranking Event			A	RR
European Masters	Tournament Not Held			A	LQ
British Open	Tournament Not Held			WD	1R
English Open	Tournament Not Held			1R	2R
Wuhan Open	Tournament Not Held				LQ
Northern Ireland Open	Tournament Not Held			WD	LQ
International Championship	A	A	A	NH	LQ
UK Championship	A	A	A	LQ	LQ
Shoot Out	Non-Ranking Event			1R	1R
Scottish Open	Tournament Not Held			LQ	LQ
World Grand Prix	NH	NR	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
German Masters	A	A	A	LQ	LQ
Welsh Open	A	A	A	LQ	WD
Players Championship^{[nb 4]}	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
World Open	A	A	A	NH	WD
Tour Championship	Tournament Not Held			DNQ	DNQ
World Championship	A	A	A	LQ	WD
Former ranking tournaments
WST Classic	Tournament Not Held			2R	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship	RR	2R	3R	LQ	NH

Performance Table Legend
LQ	lost in the qualifying draw	#R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals
SF	lost in the semi-finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	withdrew from the tournament

NH / Not Held				event was not held
NR / Non-Ranking Event				event is/was no longer a ranking event
R / Ranking Event				event is/was a ranking event
MR / Minor-Ranking Event				event is/was a minor-ranking event

^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
^ ^a ^b ^c He was an amateur
^ New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking
^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2013/2014-2015/2016)

Career finals

Team finals: 4 (3 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team/Partner	Opponent(s) in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2013^[11]	IBSF Team Snooker Championships	Pakistan Muhammad Sajjad	Iran Amir Sarkhosh Soheil Vahedi	5–3
Runner-up	1.	2014^[12]	IBSF Team Snooker Championships	Pakistan Muhammad Sajjad	Hong Kong 1 Fung Kwok Wai Lee Chun Wai	3–5
Winner	2.	2017^[13]	IBSF Team Snooker Championships	Pakistan 2 Babar Masih	Pakistan 1 Muhammad Sajjad Asjad Iqbal	5–4
Winner	3.	2018^[14]	ACBS Team Snooker Championships	Pakistan 1 Babar Masih	India 1 Pankaj Advani Malkeet Singh	3–2

Amateur finals: 7 (6 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	2009	Pakistan Amateur Championship (1)	Muhammad Sajjad	6–2
Winner	2.	2012^[15]	World Amateur Championship (1)	Gary Wilson	10–8
Winner	3.	2013	Asian 6-Reds Championship	Amir Sarkhosh	7–4
Winner	4.	2018	Pakistan Amateur Championship (2)	Mohammad Bilal	8–5
Runner-up	5.	2019^[16]	IBSF World 6-Reds Snooker Championship	Laxman Rawat	5–6
Winner	6.	2019^[17]	World Amateur Championship (2)	Jefrey Roda	8–5
Winner	7.	2020	Pakistan Amateur Championship (3)	Shahid Aftab	8–7
Winner	8.	2024	World Amateur Championship (3)	Ali Gharahgozlou	5–3

Awards and recognition

Pride of Performance Award by the Government of Pakistan in 2015.^[18]

References

^ "Muhammad Asif victorious in World Snooker Championship final". The Express Tribune. 2012-12-02. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
^ "Asif claims IBSF World Snooker Championship title". Dawn. 2012-12-02. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
^ Raheel, Natasha (2017-08-11). "World 6-Red Team Championship: All-Pakistan final won by Asif, Babar". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
^ Raheel, Natasha (2018-09-22). "Pakistan defeat India to win Asian Team Snooker Championship". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
^ "Brilliant Asif tames Roda to regain IBSF World Snooker title". Dawn. 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
^ "Results (Q School 1 Asia & Oceania 2022) - snooker.org". www.snooker.org. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
^ "Pakistan's Asif beats seven-time world snooker champion". www.geosuper.tv. August 14, 2023.
^ Mehboob, Muzzammil (15 August 2023). "Asif storms past Hendry, books spot in British Open main draw". BOL News.
^ "Mohammad Asif makes history with third IBSF World Snooker title". DAWN. 7 November 2024.
^ "Ranking History - snooker.org". www.snooker.org. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
^ "IBSF Team Snooker Championships Men - Carlow / Ireland 2013". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
^ "IBSF Team Snooker Championships Men - Sharm-el-Sheikh / Egypt 2014". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
^ "IBSF Team Snooker Championships Men - Hurghada / Egypt 2017". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
^ "ACBS Team Snooker Championships Men - Doha / Qatar 2018". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
^ "World Snooker Championship Men → Sofia - Bulgaria 2012". esnooker.pl.
^ "IBSF 6 reds Snooker Championships Men - Mandalay / Myanmar 2019". esnooker.pl.
^ "IBSF Snooker Championships Men - Antalya / Turkey 2019". esnooker.pl.
^ In recognition: Two women among 36 honoured for their services The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 23 March 2015, Retrieved 21 August 2023

External links

Muhammad Asif at the World Snooker Tour (archived)
Muhammad Asif at snooker.org

[11] It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season

[AMA-12] He was an amateur

[UR-13] New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking

[14] The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2013/2014-2015/2016)

[1] "Muhammad Asif victorious in World Snooker Championship final". The Express Tribune. 2012-12-02. Retrieved 2022-09-29.

[2] "Asif claims IBSF World Snooker Championship title". Dawn. 2012-12-02. Retrieved 2022-09-29.

[3] Raheel, Natasha (2017-08-11). "World 6-Red Team Championship: All-Pakistan final won by Asif, Babar". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2022-09-29.

[4] Raheel, Natasha (2018-09-22). "Pakistan defeat India to win Asian Team Snooker Championship". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2022-09-29.

[5] "Brilliant Asif tames Roda to regain IBSF World Snooker title". Dawn. 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2022-09-29.

[6] "Results (Q School 1 Asia & Oceania 2022) - snooker.org". www.snooker.org. Retrieved 2022-09-29.

[7] "Pakistan's Asif beats seven-time world snooker champion". www.geosuper.tv. August 14, 2023.

[8] Mehboob, Muzzammil (15 August 2023). "Asif storms past Hendry, books spot in British Open main draw". BOL News.

[9] "Mohammad Asif makes history with third IBSF World Snooker title". DAWN. 7 November 2024.

[10] "Ranking History - snooker.org". www.snooker.org. Retrieved 2022-09-29.

[15] "IBSF Team Snooker Championships Men - Carlow / Ireland 2013". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.

[16] "IBSF Team Snooker Championships Men - Sharm-el-Sheikh / Egypt 2014". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.

[17] "IBSF Team Snooker Championships Men - Hurghada / Egypt 2017". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.

[18] "ACBS Team Snooker Championships Men - Doha / Qatar 2018". esnooker.pl. Retrieved 11 November 2019.

[19] "World Snooker Championship Men → Sofia - Bulgaria 2012". esnooker.pl.

[20] "IBSF 6 reds Snooker Championships Men - Mandalay / Myanmar 2019". esnooker.pl.

[21] "IBSF Snooker Championships Men - Antalya / Turkey 2019". esnooker.pl.

[Tribune8-22] In recognition: Two women among 36 honoured for their services The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 23 March 2015, Retrieved 21 August 2023

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v t e Pride of Performance for Sports
1950s	Hashim Khan (1958) Hawaldar Abdul Khaliq (1958) Abdul Hafeez Kardar (1958) Fazal Mehmood (1958) Subedar Muhammad Iqbal (1959) Hanif Mohammad (1959)
1960s	Syed Abdus Samad (1960) Major Abdul Hamid (1960) Roshan Khan (1960) Brojen Das (1960) Khawaja Iftikhar Ahmed (1960) The Great Gama (1960) Captain Raja Javed Akhtar Khan (1961) Azam Khan (1961) Bholu Pahalwan (1962) Naseer Bunda (1962) Hafiz Rashid (1962) Saeed Ahmed (1962) Brigadier M.A. Baig (1962) Abbas Mirza (1963) Manzoor Hussain Aatif (1963) Mushtaq Muhammad (1963) Dafadar Mubarak Shah (1963) Khundker Nasim Ahmed (1964) Jamadar Ghulam Raziq (1964) Subedar Muhammad Nawaz (1966) Imtiaz Ahmad (1966) Sheikh Shaheb Ali (1966) Aslam Pahalwan (1967) Asif Iqbal (1968) Muhammad Bashir (1968) Khalid Mahmood Hussain (1968) Tariq Aziz (1968) Muhammad Asad Malik (1969) Moideen Kutty (1969) Mohammad Akhtar (1969)
1970s	Lala Abdul Rashid (1970) Ahmed Riazuddin (1970) Jehangir Ahmed Butt (1970) Chaudhry Ghulam Rasool (1970) Faiz Muhammad (1970) Major Mohammad Aslam Khan (1970) Fazal Rehman (1971) Tanvir Dar (1971) Riaz Ahmed (1971) Nabi Ahmed Kalat (1971) Zaheer Abbas (1971)
1980s	Islahuddin Siddique (1982) Jahangir Khan (1982) Byram D. Avari (1982) Nazir Ahmed Sabir (1982) Ashraf Aman (1982) Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (1983) Akhtar Rasool (1983) Samiullah Khan (1983) Manzoor Hussain Junior (1984) Hasan Sardar (1984) Kaleemullah Khan (1984) Hanif Khan (1984) Qamar Zaman (1984) Major Mohammad Sher Khan (1985) Javed Miandad (1986) Zaheer Abbas (1986) Captain Abdul Jabbar Bhatti (1986) Mohammad Ali (1986) Abdul Majeed Maruwala (1987) Shah Jehan (1988) Zia Mahmood (1988) Intikhab Alam (1988) Abdul Qadir (1988) Nasir Ali (1988) Mudassar Nazar (1989)
1990s	Honorary Lieutenant Mohammad Younis (1990) Arif Khan (1990) Nazo Anwar Miandad (1990) Mohammad Shehnaz Sheikh (1990) Wasim Akram (1992) Shahbaz Ahmed (1992) Ghulam Abbas (1992) Taimur Hasan (1992) Shahid Ali Khan (1992) Qazi Muhibur Rehman (1993) Rajab Shah (1993) Mohammad Yousuf (1994) Mohibullah Khan Junior (1994) Khwaja Mohammad Junaid (1994) Abdul Rashid (1994) Muhammad Saeed Khan (1994) Mansoor Ahmed (1994) Ahmed Alam (1994) Tahir Zaman (1994) Muhammad Shahbaz (1994) Muhammad Shafqat (1994) Irfan Mehmood (1994) Naveed Alam (1994) Asif Bajwa (1994) Muhammad Danish Kaleem (1994) Muhammad Usman (1994) Kamran Ashraf (1994) Rahim Khan (1994) Rana Mujahid Ali (1994) Waseem Feroze (1994) Aliya Rasheed (1995) Fareed Sehrai (1995) Waqar Younis (1995) Ali Nawaz Baloch (1995) Mohammad Sarwar (1995) Asghar Ali Changezi (1996) Sardar Azmarai Javaid Hissam el-Effendi (1996)* Ghulam Noorani Khan (1996) Munawwar uz Zaman (1997)
2000s	Saeed Anwar (2000) Haider Ali (2003) Rozi Ali (2003) Mohammad Irfan Islam (2003) Grand Master Muhammad Ashraf Tai (2004) Zakir Hussain Syed (2004) Mehrullah Lassi (2004) Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (2005) Nida Waseem (2008) Zubair Ahmed Hundal (2008) Shahid Rehman (2008) Umer Khan Achakzai (2009)
2010s	Atta Muhammad Kakar (2010) Khawaja Zakauddin (2010) Lal Saeed (2010) Shahid Khan Afridi (2010) Younis Khan (2010) Aleem Dar (2011) Goshpi Avari (2011) Naseem Hameed (2011) Shahid Pervaiz Butt (2011) Qasim Zia (2011) Mohammad Yousuf (2012) Maria Toorpakai Wazir (2013) Misbah-ul-Haq (2014) Zeeshan Abbasi (2014) Hanif Khan (2014) Muhammad Asif (2015) Amir Iqbal Khan (2015) Samina Baig (2015) Muhammad Waseem (2017) Alamgir Anwar Shaikh (2017)