May 17, 2006	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1427

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KARACHI, May 16: Atiq Latif Bux, the 11th seed, pulled off the first upset when he came from the jaws of defeat to register 7-6 win against sixth seed Naveen Perwani on the opening day of the four-day Pakistan Cue Masters at the Karachi Club on Tuesday.

Joining Atiq in the next round were 13-time former national champion, Mohammad Yousuf, Rambel Gul and Sohail Shehzad who lived up to their reputation by emerging victorious.

Naveen had a firm control on the match after he won all the four frames of snooker 67-43, 66-24, 61-8, 71-43 to take 4-0 lead.

He then lost the opening frame of billiards 28-50 before bouncing back to grab the next 50-26 to enhance his lead to 5-1.

Needing just two wins in the pool to wrap up the match, he won the opener and was on way to clinch the next when he lost his concentration that proved to be a turning point for him.

Atiq who failed to match excellence of his opponent in the preceding frames, suddenly started playing well and raced on to clinch the six pool frames to turn the table on Naveen winning 7-6.

Relegated to ninth position in the ranking after poor showing in the national championship in the recent past, Yousuf was home 7-2 against eight seed Vishan Gir.

After being tied 2-2 in the best of four frames snooker 65-8, 46-60, 15-31, 53-49, he pocketed both frames of billiards 50-40, 51-0 and rounded off the match by winning three pool frames.

Seventh seed Rambel Gul, the NWFP Snooker Cup champion, faced a tough time from 10th seed Raees Khan before chalking up 7-5 victory.

He started off well winning the first snooker frame 52-42 but could not maintain the pace and trailed 1-2 by going down 62-74, 32-68.

He levelled the score 2-2 by taking the fourth frame 65-0.

Rambel strengthened his position when he carved out 52-25, 52-38 win in the billiards. He then added three pool frames besides conceding as many to emerge winner.

In the last encounter, fifth seed Sohail Shehzad chalked up an emphatic 7-2 win against Jawed Ansari.

The scores were snooker 53-20, 26-56, 64-47, 62-31; billiards 51-41, 51-20; pool 2-1.

Results:

Mohammad Yousuf bt Vishan Gir 7-2 Snooker (65-8, 46-60, 15-31, 53-49); Billiards (50-40, 51-0); Pool (3-0); Rambel Gul bt Raees Khan 7-5 Snooker (52-42, 62-74, 32-68, 65-0); Billiards (52-25, 52-38); Pool (3-3); Atiq Latif Bux bt Naveen Perwani 7-6 Snooker (43-67, 24-66, 8-61, 71-43); Billiards (50-28, 26-50); Pool (6-1); Sohail Shehzad bt Jawed Ansari 7-2 Snooker (53-20, 26-56, 64-47, 62-31); Billiards (51-41, 51-20); Pool (2-1).

Wednesday’s fixtures:

10.00am: Salman Shaikh v Saleh Mohammad

12.00pm: Abu Saim v Mohammad Asif

2.00pm: Imran Qamar v Imran Shahzad

4.00pm: Khurram Agha v Irfan R. Khan.