Shehab settles for silver in snooker

The UAE's Mohammad Shehab had to settle for a silver medal after going down fighting against reigning world amateur champion Hussain Vafaei of Iran in the title showdown of the Club Apparel Second West Asian Championships snooker singles on Tuesday night. The two finalists kept a large crowd engrossed for more than four hours at the Concorde Fujairah Hotel, as the they played a good match. Vafaei eventually won 5-3. Shehab was the first off the mark and opened up a 2-0 lead, but Vafaei hit back and won four frames in a row. Shehab kept the match alive by winning the seventh frame, only for the Iranian to clear up to take the title in the next. Earlier, Shehab eased past compatriot Mohammad Al Joker 4-1 in the quarter-finals, before recovering from a slow start to beat Syria's Omar Alkojah 4-2 in the last four. The snooker team competition got under way at the same venue yesterday morning. The tournament sees top players from the 13 West Asian nations competing for medals in the snooker singles and team events, plus eight and nine-ball pool singles. The participating countries are Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen and the hosts United Arab Emirates.