07 February 2005	Monday	27 Zilhaj 1425

KARACHI, Feb 6: Upsets continued in the 30th National snooker champinship, when fifth seed Atiq Latif Bux, considered by many as the dark horse of the tournament and seventh seed Abu Saim, were blown away at the Karachi Club snooker parlour before a large audience on Sunday.

Atiq facing Punjab's Saqib Butt was in the doldrums trailing 0-4, with the Punjab cueist in tremendous form chalking up breaks of 51 and 47. Heading for a complete whitewash Atiq however managed to save the blushes pinching the fifth frame 64/27, to cut down the deficit 1-4. But this was to be Atiq's last hurrah. Saqib continuing where he had left off in the fourth, won the sixth frame also 62/29 to throw his hands up in the air with triumph after his stunning victory.

Seventh seed Abu Saim however, had stiff opposition from sixth seed Imran Shehzad also from Punjab. After Imran surrendered the first frame with Abu chalking up a fine break of 66, the seventh seed grabbed the lead 2-1 only to see Abu storm back with another break, this time with 65 to draw abreast 2-2. Shehzad won the vital fifth frame and following it up with two flowing breaks of 64 and 70 in the last two frames, picked up the honours with a 5-2 victory.

Fourth seed Naveen Perwani meeting Punjab's talented cueist Imtiaz Tipu, won the first frame easily. But with Imtiaz getting into his strides, the two were soon locked at 2-2. Helped on with fine breaks of 38, 44 and 60, Naveen broke away to come through a 5-2 winner. Imtiaz replied with breaks of 52 and 45 in the two frames he pocketed.

Inam-ur-Rehman making his appearance at the Nationals after a two year lapse, accounted for Sindh's Salman Shaikh 5-1, to book his place in the last 16, with 65 points on the trot in the sixth frame.

Top seed Khurram Hussain Agha after allowing Minhas Malik to level the scores 1-1, breezed through the last four frames with effortless ease to also emerge a 5-1 winner.

Second seed Saleh Mohammad fresh from his 4-2 conquest over Mohammad Akhlas with two magnificent breaks of 113 and 114, scoring his third century in the tournament, was in a much milder mood, booking his place amongst the last eight, with a 5-2 victory over Punjab's Farhan Noor, helped on with a break of 73 in the fifth frame.

Defending champion Mohammad Yousuf, losing the first two frames to Punjab's Mohammad Asif, finally got his act together to emerge a 5-2 winner, breezing through the last five frames registering a break of 51 on the way.

Another youngster from Punjab Shehram Changezi, surprised plenty of snooker fans with a 5-2 success against NWFP's bearded cueist Kamran Shah, to grab the final berth in the quarterfinal round.

Following will be the line-up for the quarterfinal rounds to be played in the best of nine frames. The matches begin at 10.00 a.m. on Monday morning.

Naveen Perwani (Sindh) v/s Inam-ur-Rehman (NWFP).

Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) v/s Imran Shehzad (Punjab).

Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) v/s Saqib Butt (Punjab).

Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) beat Shehram Changezi (Punjab).

The two semifinal matches will be played on the same day at 3.00 p.m. in the best of nine frames.

The final will be played on Tuesday afternoon Feb 8, from 1.00 p.m., in the best of 11 frames.

Following were the results.

Pre-quarterfinals:Naveen Perwani (Sindh) beat Imtiaz Tipu 5-2: 70/7, 30/87, 65/8, 1/108, 59/31, 67/24, 57/48. Inam-ur-Rehman (NWFP) beat Salman Shaikh (Sindh) 5-1: 58/19, 54/42, 69/33, 54/19, 67/60, 73/69. Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) beat Minhas Malik (Sindh) 5-1: 71/21, 36/66, 64/17, 65/18, 86/9, 73/31. Imran Shehzad (Punjab) beat Abu Saim (Punjab) 5-2: 41/78, 65/26, 73/18, 9/96, 71/31, 85/1, 63/29. Saqib Butt (Punjab) beat Atiq Latif Bux (Sindh) 5-1: 75/68, 83/26, 68/21, 71/8, 27/64, 62/29. Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) beat Farhan Noor (Punjab) 5-2: 59/27, 68/24, 67/41, 56/67, 81/1, 19/66, 62/35. Shehram Changezi (Punjab) beat Kamran Shah (Balochistan) 5-2: 13/61, 61/27,67/32, 53/9, 39/64, 32/67, 53/9, 39/64, 67/49, 66/23. Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) beat Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 5-2: 34/66, 26/79, 57/36, 85/28, 67/28, 56/36, 71/33.