March 27, 2006	Monday	Safar 26, 1427

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KARACHI, March 26: Top seed Mohammad Yousuf and fifth seed Atiq Latif Bux tasted shocking defeats as four ranking players met their waterloo and failed to advance to the knock out stage in the 31st National snooker championship Sunday. Sindh’s 16th seed Sohail Shehzad pulled off the biggest upset of the day when he humbled top seed and 13-time champion, Yousuf, 4-3 to top group ‘A’ with a clean slate.

The defeat, first in five games, pushed Yousuf to the second place in the group making him eligible to advance to the last 16.

Sindh’s Salman Shaikh also exhibited fine performance by handing a 4-3 defeat to Atiq.

Despite the defeat, Atiq topped group ‘E’ to cruise into the knock out stage. He was joined by Salman.

Defending champion and second seed Saleh Mohammad and third seed Naveen Perwani rounded off their league matches on a winning note. However, their opponent’s tasted their nerves by stretching them to full distance.

Trailing 1-3 down, Saleh recovered to beat Raees Khan 40-77, 32-87, 74-52, 24-54, 68-27, 66-26, 76-26. The former topped group ‘A’ while the latter finished runners up.

Naveen struggled to overcome Inam-ur-Rehman 47-50, 49-46, 34-46, 94-1, 23-53, 85-6, 69-41 to advance in the next round along with qualifier Jawed Ansari.

Khurram Agha, the seventh seed, also propelled into the next stage with a hard fought 4-3 win in his last group ‘G’ encounter. He is followed by Mohammad Asif.

Other players who were through to the last 16 include Abu Saim, Imran Qamar; Imran Shehzad; Rambel Gul, Irfan Rasheed Khan.

Saqib Butt or Vishan Gir will join Imran Shehzad at the completion of league matches Monday.

Results: Sohail Shahzad bt M. Yousuf 4-3 (35-64, 104-6, 67-27, 24-73, 68-7, 59-69, 57-54); Saleh Mohammad bt Raees Khan 4-3 (40-77, 32-87, 74-52, 24-54, 68-27, 66-26, 76-26); Naveen Perwani bt Inam-ur-Rehman 4-3 (47-50, 49-46, 34-46, 94-1, 23-53, 85-6, 69-41); Abu Saim bt Minhas Malik 4-0 (48-8, 69-5, 62-12, 53-11); Salman Shaikh bt Atiq Latif Bux 4-3 (75-23, 70-35, 55-30, 23-59, 22-51, 41-72, 65-36); Khurram Agha bt M. Asif 4-3 (78-12, 19-57, 35-52, 35-52, 61-57, 64-8, 87-19); Imtiaz Tipu bt Shehram Changezi 4-1 (40-79, 77-19, 65-51, 68-41, 65-45); Raja Rashid bt Khalid Khan 4-0 (62-20, 63-34, 46-45, 62-29); M. Hussain bt Taj Mohammad 4-0 (50-23, 55-27, 50-4, 46-39); Jawed Anari bt M. Ali 4-2 (68-24, 61-21, 55-65, 61-38, 48-59, 59-3); Imran Qamar bt Mesam Zaidi 4-1 (70-41, 31-66, 47-10, 75-25, 57-19); Arshad Siddiq bt Tahir Rasheed 4-2 (15-56, 58-34, 49-13, 8-70, 60-20, 60-52); Irfan Rasheed Khan bt Imran Khan 4-0 (46-27, 52-2, 64-0, 65-24).

Monday’s fixtures: 10.00am: Kamran Razzak v Naeem Jaffer; M. Sadiq v M. Kashif; Shah Khan v M. Sharif; Abdul Rehman v Yasir Shahzad. 12.00pm: Kashif Khan v M. Yousuf; Asif Haris v Vishan Gir; Nauman Awan v Farhan Noor; Mustafa Hyder v Rambel Gul.