KARACHI: Sept 18: Third seed Mohammad Yousuf booked his berth in the semifinals of the 16th Red & White Latif Masters snooker tournament after sweeping aside young Atiq Latif Bux 4-1 at the Karachi Club on Wednesday evening.

The former world and Asian amateur champion, who was beaten 4-3 the previous evening by Shakeel Bhatti, had to gain maximum points to stay in contention for the prestigious trophy.

After receiving a walk-over, courtesy Farhan Mirza in the morning session, Yousuf had to lock horns later in the evening with Atiq Latif Bux, bristling with confidence after routing Saleh Mohammad 4-2.

Yousuf began the opening frame in style chalking up a break of 52, but was shocked when Atiq came storming back with a clearance of 47 to take the first frame 69/53.

Aware that he was facing a dangerous adversary, Yousuf scoring with every visit to the table and then going for safety, levelled the frame scores 1-1. Atiq with some lovely long potting took the lead in the third frame with a break of 32 and seemed heading for victory in third before a responding break of 34 by Yousuf allowed him to snatch the frame and emerge in a 2-1 lead.

Atiq once more came back strongly in the next frame with a fine break of 56, only to see Yousuf clear the table with a blistering break of 86 to move further ahead 3-1.

Although Atiq tried his level best to stem the tide, Yousuf was still in command and picked up the fourth hard fought set 57/47, to emerge a 4-1 winner and book a place in the semi-finals.

Seven cueists are in contention for the next three places in the last four and only their last qualifying matches on Thursday will decide who will join Yousuf in the semis.

Fourth seed Naveen Perwani from the PIA seems a likely candidate from Pool A, winning his two matches on Wednesday in ruthless style. First he upset the applecart of Imran Shahzad 4-1 and then trounced Minhas Malik 4-0. The former Pakistan junior champion has lost only one match to date going down 1-4 to Vishan Gir on the opening day. His place is still in jeopardy, as he plays his final match on Thursday afternoon against top seed Khurram Hussain Agha.

Khurram, who has lost matches so far 4-1 against Vishan Gir and 2-4 against Imran Shahzad. The top seed has to beat Naveen by a handsome margin to squeeze his way through into the semi-final.

Also in the running from the same Pool is Imran Shahzad and Vishan Gir. Both going along so strongly the previous evening, lost vital matches on Thursday.

Vishan was surprised by Punjab’s Mohammad Nazir 4-2, and Imran fell in the path of Naveen 4-1. Vishan takes on Arifullah in his last match in the qualifying round. Imran on the other hands has played all his matches, but stands a chance to qualify if Khurram beats Naveen.

In Pool B, bearded Shakeel Bhatti had a great chance to reach the semi-finals and even top Group B after only one loss. But total disaster awaited him against Punjab’s M. Faiq Malik in the evening session.

Needing to win this match to keep his chances alive, Shakeel playing a good brand of snooker was leading 2-1, but burdened with heavy pressure of qualifying, his game suddenly went to pieces and he lost the match 4-2. He now plays his last match against Amit Parwani, the No. 10 seed, who has had a very disappointing tournament.

Second seeded Saleh Mohammad also has a steep mountain to climb if he is to reach the semi-finals. Saleh has to beat Mohammad Yousuf by a 4-1 scoreline and if he has the mortification of losing his encounter with Yousuf, then Atiq will replace him in the semi-finals in Pool B.

Although routed by Atiq 4-2, Saleh did play well with breaks of 47, 45, and 41, in the third, fourth and sixth frames. But Amit on the attack from the word go did better with 49 and 42 points on the trot, to register another victory over the former world No.3.

Last year in a Red and White ranking tournament played at the KPT Sports Complex, Atiq beat Saleh by the same scoreline.

Following were the results: Mohammad Nazir bt Vishan Gir 4-2: 42/51, 53/29, 8/74, 94/29, 53/46, 66/46. Naveen Perwani bt Imran Shahzad 4-1: 80/28, 72/21, 71/16, 65/66, 83/1. Khurram Hussain Agha bt Minhas Malik 4-0: 92/10, 67/33, 70/9, 71/44. Atiq Latif Bux bt Saleh Mohammad 4-2: 10/69, 72/9, 64/53, 7/70, 81/44, 71/58. M. Faiq Malik bt Amit Parwani 4-2: 51/58, 66/36, 54/18, 51/66, 62/44, 63/43. Naveen Perwani bt Minhas Malik 4-0: 99/21, 81/8, 62/49, 111/4. Imran Shahzad bt Khurram Hussain Agha 4-2: 62/25, 0/131, 1/87, 54/43, 83/22, 93/2. Mohammad Nazir bt Arifullah 4-2: 48/72, 60/32, 59/31, 49/63, 63/33, 85/15. M. Faiq Malik bt Shakeel Bhatti 4-2: 53/68, 34/92, 69/52, 66/17, 63/34, 53/38. Mohammad Yousuf bt Atiq Latif Bux 4-1: 53/69, 69/40, 75/45, 86/56, 57/47.

Ahmer Shaikh awarded a walk-over in favour of Arifullah. Fahd Asif awarded a walk-over in favour of Shakeel Bhatti. Farhan Mirza awarded a walk-over in favour of Mohammad Yousuf. Ahmer Shaikh awarded a walk-over in favour of Vishan Gir. Farhan Mirza awarded a walk-over in favour of Saleh Mohammad. Fahad Asif awarded a walk-over in favour of Amit Parwani.