Mohammad Al Joaker in the frame for quarters at Asian Indoors

UAE cueist comes back strongly to win opening two games and will take on Aditya Mehta.

Mohammed Al Joaker was trailing 3-1 in the opening round but won the best-of-seven game for his first of two wins. Charles Crowell for The National

INCHEON, South Korea // Mohammed Al Joaker maintained his hopes of winning a medal for the UAE in the men's snooker tournament at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games as he won twice on Wednesday to reach the last 16.

Al Joaker's prospects of doing well in the event in Icheon, South Korea, had looked bleak as he trailed Michael Angelo Mengorio of the Philippines 3-1 in his best-of-seven opening-round match.

But Al Joaker, who had already tasted disappointment at the event after he and Mohamed Al Hashimi were eliminated from the team competition on Tuesday, fought back to win the next two frames to level things, before he won the deciding frame 72-24 to complete his comeback.

His second-round match saw him take on Noppon Saengkham of Thailand, and the pair proved to be evenly matched initially as they shared the first four frames to be locked at 2-2.

But Al Joaker showed his resolve as he took the fifth frame 66-50, and he won another high-scoring affair in frame six 79-50 to ensure he will return today to play for a spot in the quarter-finals against India's Aditya Mehta, who thrashed Vietnam's Thien Khoi Kieu 4-0 in his last-16 game.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, in the swimming pool a second-place finish in his heat was not enough for Mohamed Al Jasim to reach the final of the men's 100m freestyle.

He clocked a time of 53.18 seconds in his heat, but it was not one of the eight fastest times in the four heats, causing him to miss out on progressing.

Obaid Al Jasmi was seventh in his heat of the 100m medley, causing his elimination from the competition, while the 4x100m medley relay team missed out on qualifying for the final after finishing sixth in their heat.

Follow us