ISLAMABAD: Pakistani snooker player Muhammad Asif defeated seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry on Monday in the first round of the British Open 2023 tournament in Leicester 4-2, eliminating the legendary player to secure a berth for himself in the tournament.
The Pakistani professional player, who earned a two-year professional card at the World Snooker Tour (WST) in June 2022, defeated the Scottish champion 4-2 in the best of seven match.
Hendry started the qualifying match of the tournament with an impressive 73 but finished with a 66 as his South Asian rival won the next three frames.
“Muhammad Asif has beaten Stephen Hendry 4-2 to qualify for the Cazoo UK British Open,” World Snooker Tour announced on Monday via the messaging platform X.
In the fifth frame, Hendry made a stunning comeback to snatch the game in his favor by beating Asif 74-43. However, Pakistan’s world No.81 won the next frame by playing a break of 66, making it to the last 64 players who would be playing the finals in England’s Cheltenham city next month.
Pakistan’s Asjad Iqbal is also taking part in the qualifying round and will square off against China’s Tian Pengfei on Wednesday.
British Open 2023 first round scores
Muhammad Asif 4-2 Stephen Hendry
Si Jiahui 4-1 Lukas Kleckers
Ma Hailong 4-2 Ian Burns
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 4-1 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Fergal O’Brien 4-1 Andres Petrov
Alfie Burden 2-4 Ken Doherty
Tom Ford 4-1 James Cahill
Ben Mertens 4-2 Louis Heathcote
