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| September 1, 2005 | Thursday | Rajab 26, 1426 |
Giant-killer Saqib stuns Naveen to book berth in last eight
KARACHI, Aug 31: Mercurial Saqib Butt of Punjab again produced a giant-killing act when he stunned third seed Naveen Perwani 5-2 to advance into the quarterfinal of 14th national ranking snooker cup at Area Snooker Club on Wednesday.
Highly talented Saqib from Lahore, who on Tuesday shocked the top seed and defending champion Saleh to steal the limelight, was again at his brilliant best to dump Naveen in much easier fashion 5-2.
Saqib showed the quality of a great fighter when he came from 1-2 down to turn the tables on Naveen by claiming the next four frames.
Two other top-notchers Saleh Muhammad and Muhammad Yousuf were given scare by Shehram Changezi and Salman Shaikh before securing their berths in the quarterfinals.
Also joining them in the last eight round were Atiq Latif Bakhsh and Khurram Agha. Atiq showed his class when he came from 0-3 down to defeat Sohail Shahazd 5-3.
Rawalpindi’s rising cueist, Shehram took Asian championship losing semifinalist Saleh to full nine-frame before going down fighting 5-4. Saleh took the opening frame after a fight but routed Shehram in the second to gain 2-0 advantage.
But eighth seed Shehram showing guts and controlled potting got back on level terms by grabbing the next two frames. Saleh came back strongly to forge 4-2 ahead again and Shehram retrieved in same fashion to make it 4-all to set a grand finale.
2003 world championship finalist Saleh enjoying vast international experience wrapped up the decider by snatching the last frame 65-35 to cruise into the last eight round.
A talented Sindh cueist Salman Shaikh gave Yousuf a rough and tough time before making his exit. Yousuf was enjoying 4-1 lead and needed another frame to record victory.
However, Salman pulled the next two frames to reduce the lead to 4-3. Veteran Yousuf came back strongly and sealed victory by out-potting Salman 81-9 in the final frame.
Fourth seed Imran Shahzad maintained his fine run in the competition by sailing into the quarters by thrashing Minhas Malik 5-0. Lahore’s Imtiaz Tipu beat Kashif Khan 5-2.
Thursday’s quarterfinals: Imran Shahzad v Muhammad Yousuf; Saleh Muhammad v Imtiaz Tipu; Saqib Butt v Khurram Agha; Abu Saim v Atiq Latif Bakhsh.
Pre-quarterfinal results. Imran Shahzad bt Minhas Malik 5-0 79-32, 68-0, 67-42, 88-37, 73-36; Muhammad Yousuf bt Salman Shaikh 5-3 61-23, 36-71, 62-53, 59-26, 48-29, 37-63, 16-66, 81-09; Imtiaz Tipu bt Kashif Khan 5-2 84-49, 40-44, 69-27, 58-01, 54-55, 73-0, 61-08; Saleh Muhammad bt Shehram Changezi 5-4 72-54, 61-15, 19-60, 39-66, 53-16, 64-29, 56-70, 27-75, 65-35; Saqib Butt bt Naveen Perwani 5-2 61-38, 38-65, 46-42, 70-28, 74-38, 16-80, 78-44; Abu Saim bt Irfan Rasheed Khan 5-3 56-27, 29-78, 53-45, 67-31, 50-65, 55-37, 37-48, 65-38; Khurram Agha bt M.Asif 5-4 40-80, 4-58, 41-61, 85-35, 48-41, 56-18, 59-72, 59-32, 51-41; Atiq Latif Bakhsh bt Sohail Shahzad 5-3 10-100, 47-90, 52-61, 72-55, 53-38, 82-40, 66-20, 58-53.—APP
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