Ahmed Saif

Ahmed Saif (born 1 January 1983) is a former Qatari professional snooker player. He was the first professional player from Qatar. Saif was a professional between 2013 and 2015, reaching a highest ranking of 113 in the world.

Ahmed Saif
Born (1983-01-01) 1 January 1983
Sport country Qatar
Professional2013–2015
Highest ranking113 (June–July 2014)[1]
Medal record
Men's Snooker
Representing  Qatar
Pan Arab Games
Silver medal – second place 2011 Doha Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Doha Team
Asian Indoor Games
Silver medal – second place 2009 Vietnam Team
Silver medal – second place 2017 Ashgabat Team

Career

Amateur

Saif as an amateur represented the Qatari national snooker team at the 2002, 2006 and 2010[2] Asian Games, 2009 and 2013 Asian Indoor Games. Saif had success in the 2011 Pan Arab Games where he won a silver medal in the snooker singles, losing to Iraqi Firas Al-Shamini in the final, he also won a bronze in the team event alongside Ali Al Obaidly and Mohsen Bukshaisha.

Saif also appeared as a wildcard in 2008 Bahrain Championship, where he lost 5–1 to Robert Milkins in the wildcard round.[3][4] He also appeared in the opening two Players Tour Championship events in the 2010/2011 season, however he lost both of them 4–0 to Andrew Higginson and Jamie Clarke.

Professional

Saif entered the 2013 Q School in an attempt to become Qatar's first professional snooker player. In the first event he beat fellow countryman Mohsen Bukshaisha, before falling to Shane Castle in the last 64. However, with wins over Zack Richardson, Duane Jones, Michael Georgiou, Antony Parsons and Jamie Clarke in the second event, Saif reached the semi-final stages and won a place on the main tour for the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons.[2][5]

Saif was to endure a difficult debut season as a professional, as he failed to win a single match, winning only fourteen frames in fourteen matches, six of which came in his 10–6 loss to Scott Donaldson in the 2014 World Snooker Championship first qualifying round. He finished the season ranked 130.[6]

Saif's first match win as a professional came in January 2015 at the minor-ranking Xuzhou Open over Chinese amateur Long Yun.[7] Later, he achieved his first win in a full ranking event, beating Anthony Hamilton 4–0 at the 2015 Welsh Open, closing out the match with a 95 break which is the highest of his career in competitive play.[8] However, Saif was whitewashed in the next round 4–0 by Alan McManus.[7] He ended his stint on the tour ranked world number 117 and failed to come through Q School in an attempt to win his place back.[9]

Performance and Rankings timeline
Tournament 2008/
09		 2010/
11		 2013/
14		 2014/
15
Ranking[10][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 130
Ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters A A LQ LQ
International Championship Not Held LQ LQ
UK Championship A A 1R 1R
German Masters NH A LQ A
Welsh Open A A 1R 2R
Indian Open Not Held LQ LQ
Players Championship Grand Final[nb 4] NH DNQ DNQ DNQ
China Open A A LQ LQ
World Championship A A LQ LQ
Former ranking tournaments
Bahrain Championship WR Not Held
World Open[nb 5] A A LQ NH
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)		 QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. He was an amateur.
  3. New players don't have a ranking.
  4. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011)
  5. The event was called the Grand Prix (2008/2009)

References
  1. "World Rankings after the 2014 Wuxi Classic" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 30 June 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  2. "Ahmed Saif". World Snooker. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  3. "Bahrain Championship 2008". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  4. "Bahrain Championship 2008". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  5. "Qatar's first pro Saif set to enhance profile of snooker". Gulf Times. 25 May 2013. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  6. "Prize Money Rankings after the World Championship 2014" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 7 May 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  7. "Ahmed Saif 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  8. "Qatari Saif Wins First Ranking Match". World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 17 February 2015. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  9. "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  10. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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