SHOKAT Ali pulled off the biggest victory of his life to make history and take gold in the Asian Games last night.

The Accrington snooker star became the first Cue Sports competitor to win gold after defeating Malaysian number one Sam Chong in an epic scrap.

Ranked 49 in the world, Ali won six of the last eight frames to emerge victorious 7-6 at the end of a tense final at the Muang Tong Thani complex in Bangkok.

Ali's win provided Pakistan with their first gold medal of the Games.

"This is the best win of my career and I'll remember it for the rest of my life," said Ali, following a marathon final which lasted 5hr 2min.

"It was a very tiring day. I was up at 7am and had to play almost continuously from 10am.

"I'm a very happy man not just for myself but also for Pakistan, where I lived for five years."

The strong field included James Watana and Marco Fu. and Ali beat Malaysian number two Ooi Chin Kay 6-5 on the last pink in the semi-finals.

And Ali then held his nerve to see off Chong, ranked 186 in the world, after getting off to a disastrous start.

"It was never going to be easy. I knew that from the word go because Malaysians are such good players," said Ali.

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