Farakh Ajaib triumphed on the amateur Q Tour for the first time in his snooker career after winning Event 3 on Sunday in Belgium.
The Pakistan player defeated Harvey Chandler 5-3 in the final to secure the £2,500 top prize at The Delta Moon in Mons.
Ajaib was due to face Barry Hawkins as a top-up competitor at the Northern Ireland Open on Sunday, but he’ll now be delighted that he opted to skip that opportunity.
The 31 year-old, who is originally from Lancashire in England, started off his weekend with a 3-1 victory over Alex Millington.
Ajaib subsequently overcame Liam Pullen and Andrew Higginson with whitewash displays to reach the quarter-finals, where he ousted George Pragnall – the runner-up of the first two Q Tour events of the campaign.
In the last four, Ajaib survived a ding-dong battle with Event 1 champion Ross Muir and compiled a timely run of 83 in the decider to clinch his place in the final.
Chandler got the better start in the title decider by winning the first couple of frames, but Ajaib fought back with contributions of 60 and 50 helping him to glory.
He rises to third on the Q Tour rankings list behind Muir and Pragnall, with Event 2 winner Martin O’Donnell dropping to fourth.
The top-ranked competitor at the end of the 2022/23 season will be awarded with a two-year professional card, while the following 16 best players will enter a play-off tournament for a second ticket to the Main Tour.
There will be six tournaments in total this season on the Q Tour with a total prize fund of £72,000 across the series.
Q Tour Event 4 is scheduled for November 25-27 at the Snookerhallen in Stockholm, Sweden.
Q Tour Event 3
Results
Quarter-Finals
Harvey Chandler 4-3 Jamie Curtis-Barrett
Joshua Thomond 4-3 Hamim Hussain
Ross Muir 4-3 Daniel Wells
Farakh Ajaib 4-1 George Pragnall
Semi-Finals
Harvey Chandler 4-1 Joshua Thomond
Farakh Ajaib 4-3 Ross Muir
Final
Farakh Ajaib 5-3 Harvey Chandler
Featured photo credit: WPBSA
