March 22, 2006	Wednesday	Safar 21, 1427

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KARACHI, Mar 21: The NWFP Cup champion, Rambel Gul, sent warning bells when he humbled eighth seed Shehram Changezi 4-2 as top seeds opened their campaign with fluent wins on the second day of the 31st National snooker championship at Snooker Zone on Tuesday.

Winner of eighth Style Cup two years back, Rambel recovered from two frames down to register 9-69, 23-65, 66-54, 63-43, 69-11, 54-16 win with a break of 43 in the fourth frame.

In yet another minor upset, qualifier Kashif Khan of Sindh squeezed past 12th ranked Salman Shaikh in gruelling battle 4-3 the score being 62-40, 69-52, 53-66, 48-39, 43-75, 34-76, 51-37.

Top seed and 13-time champion, Mohammad Yousuf, conceded the opener on way to chalk up 29-61, 85-0, 52-18, 61-12, 60-55 victory over Balochistan’s Naeem Jaffar.

Defending champion and second seed Saleh Mohammad handed a 4-0 defeat to Sindh’s Mohammad Kashif after being awarded the opening frame due to latter’s late arrival for the match. Scores of other frames were 62-26, 60-26, 62-45.

Third seed Naveen Perwani was impressive in his 74-41, 54-19, 82-25, 90-60 win over Mohammad Sharif of Punjab while fourth seed Abu Saim got the better of Yasir Shahzad 68-55, 63-34, 77-14, 61-24.

Khurram Agha, a former Pakistan No 1 and eighth seed, survived a scare when he disposed off Punjab Cup runners up Farhan Noor 4-3.

The highlight of his win was a splendid break of 99 in the third frame, the highest break todate.

He was home 61-31, 56-61, 99-0, 42-66, 16-58, 65-21, 73-12. Two more matches went to full distance on the second day.

Mohammad Asif overcame Nawman Awan 48-59, 61-44, 21-73, 73-59, 55-73, 61-29, 59-22. Minhas Malik carved out 23-60, 34-50, 63-31, 57-61, 68-25, 68-11, 54-40 win over Abdul Rehman.

Results: Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) bt Naeem Jaffar (Bal) 4-1 (29-61, 85-0, 52-18, 61-12, 60-55); Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) bt Mohammad Kashif (Sindh) 4-0 (first frame awarded to Saleh, 62-26, 60-26, 62-45); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt Mohammad Sharif (Pun) 4-0 (74-41, 54-19, 82-25, 90-60); Abu Saim (Pun) bt Yasir Shahzad (NWFP) 4-0 (68-55, 63-34, 77-14, 61-24); Atiq Latif Bux (Sindh) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Bal) 4-0 (62-33, 61-54, 53-47, 55-19); Imran Shahzad (Pun) bt Vishan Gir (Sindh) 4-1 (71-63, 85-0, 54-34, 22-62, 75-41); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Farhan Noor (Pun) 4-3 (61-31, 56-61, 99-0, 42-66, 16-58, 65-21, 73-12); Rambel Gul (NWFP) bt Shehram Changezi (Pun) 4-2 (9-69, 23-65, 66-54, 63-43, 69-11, 54-16); Kashif Khan (Sindh) bt Salman Shaikh (Sindh) 4-3 (62-40, 69-52, 53-66, 48-39, 43-75, 34-76, 51-37); Saqib Butt (Pun) bt Asif Haris (Pun) 4-0 (59-40, 65-42, 56-19, 82-26); Mohammad Asif (Pun) bt Nauman Awan (NWFP)4-3 (48-59, 61-44, 21-73, 73-59, 55-73, 61-29, 59-22); Imtiaz Tipu (pun) bt Mustafa Hyder (Bal) 4-1 (69-41, 53-10, 53-62, 64-41, 55-13); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Kamran Razzak (Sindh) 4-1 (58-38, 60-28, 22-70, 63-21, 71-43); Raees Khan (Pun) bt Mohammad Sadiq (Pun) 4-1 (71-42, 93-8, 52-63, 69-32, 57-44); Minhas Malik (Sindh) bt Abdul Rehman (Bal) 4-3 (23-60, 34-50, 63-31, 57-61, 68-25, 68-11, 54-40).

Wednesday’s Fixtures: At 10.00am: Atiq Latif Bux (Sindh) v Arshad Siddiq (NWFP); Imran Shehzad (Pun) v Mehmood Khan (Bal); Khurram Agha (Sindh) v Mohammad Akhlas (Sindh); Shehram Changezi (Pun) v Imran Khan (Pun) at 12.00pm: Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) v Khalid (NWFP); Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) v Taj Mohammad (Bal); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) v Jawed Ansari (Sindh); Abu Saim (Pun) v Imran Qamar (Pun) at 2.00pm: Tahir Rasheed (Pun) v Mohammad Yousuf (Bal); Hamid Bata (NWFP) v Vishan Gir (Sindh); Jan Ali (Bal) v Farhan Noor (Pun); Irfan Rasheed Khan (Sindh) v Rambel Gul (NWFP) at 4.00pm: Raja Rasheed (Pun) v Naeem Jaffer (Bal); Mohammad Hussain (NWFP) v Mohammad Kashif (Sindh); Mohammad Ali (Bal) v Mohammad Sharif (Pun); Mesan Zaidi (Sindh) v Yasir Shahzad (NWFP).