Mohammed Mustafa Shehab (born 11 December 1976) is a professional snooker player from the United Arab Emirates.
| Born | 11 December 1976 Abu Dhabi |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  United Arab Emirates[1] |
| Professional | 1996/1997, 2006/2007, 2024-present |
| Highest ranking | 90 (2006/2007) |
| Current ranking | 122 (as of 11 November 2024) |
Medal record | |
The winner of the Snooker Singles at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games, Shehab has enjoyed good form in six-red snooker, most notably at the 2018 Six-red World Championship, where he reached the quarter-finals, defeating reigning World Champion Mark Williams in the last 16.
Career
editHe competed as a professional on the main tour in the 1996–97 and 2006–07 seasons, finishing the latter with a ranking of 90th, the highest of his career.
Shehab regained the professional status recently in Q Tour Global Playoffs after defeating Hong Kong China’s Yu Kiu Chang 10-8 to earn a third spell on the World Snooker Tour.
Main tour
editHe entered nine tournaments, but his best performances came in the 1997 International Open and the European Open, where he reached the third qualifying round. Shehab had recorded his first professional win in the former, a 5–3 defeat of Englishman Rajan Sharma, but added only five more all season. Shebab would participate in the qualifying for both the 1996 UK Championship and the 1997 World Championship. His season's campaign culminated in a 1–5 loss to Iain Trimble in his second match. He finished the season ranked 397th and, with the addition of the secondary UK Tour, was immediately relegated from the main tour.
Shehab did not play again competitively for five years, until he entered the 2002 World Amateur Championship. There, he compensated for losses to Martin Gould and Alex Borg with victories over Habib Subah and seven others to progress from his group. He beat Supoj Saenla and Martin McCrudden to reach the quarter-finals, but lost 5–6 there to Steve Mifsud.
This led Shehab to enter several events on the Challenge Tour, which had replaced the UK Tour, during the 2003/2004 season; he lost in the semi-finals of one event to Stefan Mazrocis, but progressed no further after this. In Event Two, he defeated seventeen-year-old Mark Allen 4–3, but lost to Steve James in his next match. Shehab would also attempt to qualify for the world championship this season, but lose in the second round of qualifying to Lee Farebrother
Although he entered only one tournament in the following two seasons - losing 1–4 to Andrew Higginson in Event 1 of the 2004 Challenge Tour - Shehab won back his place on the main tour in 2006.
His second season as a professional brought no more success than his first, Shehab winning only four matches and earning only £500. He defeated Stuart Pettman, Liu Song and Borg in the 2006 Grand Prix, and Liu again in the Malta Cup, but lost his final four matches. Following a 6–10 loss to Mark Joyce in qualifying for the 2007 World Snooker Championship, Shehab finished the season ranked 90th, and was relegated once more from the tour.[2]
Amateur career
editShehab would later win the Singles Snooker championship at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games. He defeated India's Yasin Merchant 4–2, Hong Kong's Chan Wai Ki 4–1, Thailand's Issara Kachaiwong 4–1, China's Xiao Guodong 4–3 before beating Thailand's James Wattana 4–3 in the final.[3]
After playing as a wildcard entry in the 2009 Shanghai Masters, losing 3–5 to Graeme Dott, Shebab would contest the 2009 Six-red World Grand Prix, where he would come second in his group, defeating Joe Perry, and eventual winner Jimmy White, before defeating Nigel Bond in the first round. He would lose his second knockout round match to Judd Trump.[4][5]
After 2009, Shehab continued to play at amateur level, entering the World Amateur Championship each year. His best performance came during the 2013 edition, when he reached the quarter-finals, where Lee Walker beat him 6–3.[6][7] Shebab would make an appearance in the 2018 Six-red World Championship, where he would qualify from his group, thanks to wins over David Gilbert[8] and Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon,[9] and a 5–4 loss to Mark Selby.[10] Shehab would draw world snooker champion Mark Williams in the last 16 knockout round.[10] Shehab would win the match 6–3, and would play Sunny Akani in the Quarter-finals.[11]
In 2023 Shehab celebrated 100 medals remarkable achievement for his country UAE.
Performance and rankings timeline
edit| Tournament | 1996/ 97 |
2003/ 04 |
2004/ 05 |
2006/ 07 |
2008/ 09 |
2009/ 10 |
2010/ 11 |
2016/ 17 |
2018/ 19 |
2019/ 20 |
2023/ 24 |
2024/ 25 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[12][nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | [nb 3] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | [nb 3] | [nb 3] | [nb 3] | [nb 3] | [nb 3] | [nb 3] | [nb 2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Tournament Not Held | Non-Ranking Event | A | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Xi'an Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | 1R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| English Open | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| British Open | LQ | A | A | Tournament Not Held | A | LQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | A | LQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| International Championship | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Championship | LQ | A | A | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | LQ | ||||||||||||||||
| Shoot Out | Tournament Not Held | NR | A | A | A | A | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scottish Open[nb 4] | LQ | A | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||
| German Masters[nb 5] | A | Tournament Not Held | A | A | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Welsh Open | LQ | A | A | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||
| World Open[nb 6] | LQ | A | A | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Players Championship[nb 7] | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | LQ | LQ | LQ | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | A | LQ | |||||||||||||||||
| Non-ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Masters | A | A | A | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | |||||||||||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Asian Classic | LQ | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thailand Masters[nb 8] | LQ | Not Held | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Trophy | Not Held | LQ | A | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shanghai Masters | Tournament Not Held | A | WR | A | A | Non-Ranking Event | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| China Open | Not Held | A | LQ | A | A | A | A | A | Not Held | |||||||||||||||||||
| European Masters[nb 9] | LQ | A | A | LQ | Not Held | A | A | A | A | NH | ||||||||||||||||||
| Former non-ranking tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Six-red World Championship[nb 10] | Tournament Not Held | RR | 3R | 2R | RR | QF | RR | Not Held | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 Held | means an event was not held. | |||
| NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer a ranking event. | |||
| R / Ranking Event | means an event is/was a ranking event. | |||
| MR / Minor-Ranking Event | means an event is/was a minor-ranking event. | |||
| PA / Pro-am Event | means an event is/was a pro-am event. | |||
- ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
- ^ a b c New players don't have a ranking
- ^ a b c d e f g h i He was an amateur
- ^ The event was called the International Open (1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
- ^ The event was called the German Open (1996/1997)
- ^ The event was called the Grand Prix (1996/1997, 2004/2005, 2006/2007, 2008/2009-2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2003/2004)
- ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011)
- ^ The event was called the Thailand Open (1996/1997)
- ^ The event was called the European Open (1996/1997, 2003/2004) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005, 2006/2007)
- ^ The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)
Career finals
editPro-am finals: 1 (1 title)
edit| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2007 | Asian Indoor Games |  James Wattana
|
4–3 |
Amateur finals: 7 (3 titles)
edit| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2000 | United Arab Emirates Amateur Championship |  Thomas Matthew
|
6–1 |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2006 | Asian Amateur Championship | Issara Kachaiwong
|
3–6 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2016 | Asian Amateur Championship (2) | Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn
|
2–6 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2023 | World Amateur Championship - Masters |  Habib Subah Humood
|
4–5 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 2024 | Q Tour Middle East – Event 2 |  Amir Sarkhosh
|
3–4 |
| Winner | 2. | 2024 | Q Tour Middle East – Event 3 |  Yazan Alhaddad
|
4–0 |
| Winner | 3. | 2024 | Q Tour Global Playoff - Event 3 |  Yu Kiu Chang
|
10–8 |
References
edit- ^ "Mohamed Shehab - Player Profile - Snooker". Eurosport UK. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- ^ "WSF News - UAE Joins the World Snooker Federation - World Snooker". World Snooker. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- ^ "More Cue Sports Medals in 2009 Asian Indoor Games". cuesportsindia.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ "2009 Sangsom 6 Reds Drawsheet". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 5 July 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
- ^ "2009 Sangsom 6 Reds Results". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
- ^ "UAE in focus: UAE snooker player Mohammed Shehab 'still hungry for success'". The National. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- ^ "UAE snooker champion Mohammed Shehab eyes an encore". The National. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- ^ "Thai-Phoon Breezes Into Knockout Rounds - World Snooker". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 2018-09-06. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ "Selby Clinches Knockout Spot - World Snooker". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 2018-09-06. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ a b Årdalen, Hermund. "SangSom 6 Red World Championship (2018) - snooker.org". snooker.org (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- ^ "SangSom 6 Red World Championship results" (PDF). thailandsnooker.org. Retrieved 6 September 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
