Maldivian professional billiard players Hussain Fayaz, Mohamed Shareef, and Ahmed Shihad secure historic wins at the Maldives Open 2023 10-Ball Championship which began Saturday, April 22.
This is the first time an international billiards tournament is held in the Maldives. A total of 64 players are competing in the championship, including 16 locals.
The tournament is divided into 16 groups, with a local player competing in each group, and is held on a double-elimination basis. The first eight group matches were played yesterday.
Hussain Fayaz, who competed in Group B, secured the first win for the Maldives, defeating Greek champion Nikolaos Malai by 6-7 frames. Although Fayaz took an early 1-5 frame lead, Malai caught up and eventually surpassed him by one frame. However, Malai's failure to win the final two frames allowed Fayaz to take the lead.
Fayaz then went up against Indonesia's Billy Robinson in the second match of the group stage but faced a 7-3 frame loss. In the Top-32 playoffs, Fayaz faced Hong Kong's Robbie Capito and lost with 7-4 frames.
Shareef who competed in Group F played against Vietnam's Nguyen Hong Phuong and lost with 2-7 frames in his first game. However, he won against Australia's Christian Nasimer with 5-7 frames. Shareef lost the game against Chinese Taipei's Chia Cheng in the Top-32 playoffs with 7-2 frames.
Shihad, who competed in Group G, lost his first game against Philippines' Yohan Chua with 0-7 frames but emerged as the winner in his second game against Iran's Pouriya Keshtkaran with 1-7 frames. In the Top-32 playoffs, Shihad faced Chua once again and lost with 4-7 frames.
Additionally, five more Maldivian players competed in Saturday’s matches which include Hassan Shafraz from Group A, Abbas Saeed from Group C, Hassan Uswathulla from Group D, Shazeen Abdul Samad from Group E, and Mohamed Shahil from Group H.
Shafraz faced a 7-2 frame loss against Vietnam’s Nguyen An Tuan in his first game and a 7-1 loss against Poland’s Viktor Zelensky.
Abbas played against Vietnam's Du Quyen and lost 7-5 frames in his first match. He then faced off against Philippines' Jon Vincent in the second game and lost with a score of 1-7 frames.
Uswathulla played against Chinese Taipei’s Ko Pin Han and lost the game with 3-7 frames in his first match. He then went against Malaysia’s Dan Ji and lost the game with 4-7 frames.
Shazeen lost against Germany's Morriz Norhaussen and played against Vietnam's Nguyen Van Dang in his second game which he lost without securing a single frame. Shahil lost against Vietnam’s Hoang Kuan in his first match and went against Iran’s Mohammed Ali Podel in his second game losing with a 3-7 frame.
Sign In
