KARACHI, April 27: Amit Parwani failed to reach the pre-quarterfinal stage of the 8th Style ranking snooker championship, when he went down 4-2 to Shakeel Bhatti at the Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday.
With Shakeel already qualifying for the last 16, Amit desperately needed to beat Shakeel to book his berth in the knockout rounds.
In a closely fought out encounter the frame scores were tied at 2-2, with Shakeel chalking up a break of 40 points in the third frame and Amit replying with 44 in the next.
Shakeel grabbed the next two frames and not only emerged winner but topped Group H, winning all his four matches. Akhlas whipped Hanif 4-0 to sneak into the last 16. Akhlas with two wins and two defeats was tied on points with Amit, but Akhlas finished with a better frame advantage.
Vishan Gir secured his place in the knockout rounds surprising Punjab's Mohammad Nazir 4-2 with breaks of 47 and 40. Leading 3-2 at one stage, Imran was only a frame away from qualifying, but Shakir beaten 4-3 by Nazir on Tuesday evening fought back magnificently, pinching the next two frames 72/33, 53/10 to allow Nazir to survive.
Abu Saim surprised Atiq Latif Bux 4-1 to climb on top of the ladder in Group F. Atiq finishing runner-up in the group, also qualified for the last 16. Khurram Hussain Agha sounding breaks of 54, 55 and 55, breezed past Saqib Butt to keep pace with Saleh Mohammad, Mohammad Yousuf and Imran Shehzad, who have won all their matches todate.
Saleh was engaged in a hectic battle with Rambel Gul, finally pulling off victory by a 4-3 margin. Saleh registered breaks of 55, 67 and 44 in the decisive frame. Rambel matching Saleh stroke for stroke, replied with breaks of 36, 42 and 40, to move into the last 16.
Yousuf keeping his slate clean had an easy time against Shah Khan 4-1. Although the NWFP cueist was on the receiving end, he managed his way into the last 16 with three wins from four matches. Naveen Perwani had a walkover over Imran Mughal and was joined in the last moments by Shehram Changezi, who silenced Farrukh Usman 4-2 later in the day.
Imran continued on his winning ways with a 4-1 triumph over Minhas Malik and was joined by Janan Khan, who gathered six points with three wins and one defeat. Raees Khan advanced to the qualifying rounds with a 4-0 victory over winless Zia ul Islam.
Pe-quarterfinal lineup for Wednesday to be played in the best of nine frames: Khurram Hussain Agha v Janan Khan; Rambel Gul v Vishan Gir; Naveen Perwani v Mohammad Akhlas, Shah Khan v Abu Saim (11.00am); Saleh Mohammad v Raees Khan, Mohammad Nazir v Imran Shehzad, Shakeel Bhatt v Atiq Latif Bux; Mohammad Yousuf v Shehram Changezi (3.pm)
Tuesday results: Shakeel Bhatti bt Amit Perwani 4-2: 55/31, 29/72, 72/7, 23/64, 60/40, 72/44; Imran Shehzad bt Minhas Malik 4-1: 91/20, 52/74, 58/21, 54/39, 63/20; Abu Saim bt Atiq Latif Bux 4-1: 41/68, 71/37, 84/25, 74/41, 79/12; Vishan Gir bt Mohammad Nazir 4-2: 64/45, 62/49, 4/77, 71/7, 44/63, 70/18; Khurram Hussain Agha bt Saqib Butt 4-1: 72/28, 69/23, 30/70, 75/55, 45/33; Saleh Mohammad bt Rambel Gul 4-3: 72/54, 34/70, 67/18, 66/53, 31/70, 69/71, 91/40; Mohammad Yousuf bt Shah Khan 4-1: 29/60, 64/11, 64/6, 83/44, 61/15; Mohammad Akhlas bt Hanif M. Bux 4-0: 58/27, 58/28, 74/15, 57/43; Masood Ahmed bt Mohammad Jamshed 4-2: 46/53, 66/14, 66/34, 60/44, 32/80, 57/36; Mohammad Asif bt Shahid A. Saghar 4-0: 60/47, 56/23, 53/1, 65/42; Shakir Rafiq bt Imtiaz Tipu 4-3: 62/35, 28/64, 62/15, 57/62, 22/54, 72/33, 53/10; Shehram Changezi bt Farrukh Usman 4-2: 48/55, 62/10, 34/65, 64/25, 51/18, 74/47; Raees Khan bt Zia ul Islam 4-0: 66/10, 53/13, 58/33, 74/12; Kamran Shah bt Shahid Ilyas 55/28, 28/75, 33/47, 62/53, 60/41, 53/24; Shahid Ali bt Danish Karim 4-2: 47/39, 69/30, 69/24, 26/70, 61/47.
