March 08, 2007	Thursday	Safar 18, 1428

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KARACHI, March 7: Veteran Mohammad Yousuf on Wednesday hammered a century break of 117 – second of the contest – against NWFP qualifier Arshad Siddiq to surpass the 115 break cracked by Naveen Perwani in the 30th National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana.

The win which came in the penultimate league match has put the winner on top of group ‘B’ making him eligible to qualify for the knockout pre quarter-final stage.

Second seed Yousuf scored the break in second frame in his 77-10, 126-8, 52-37 and 68-32 triumph.

Joining him in the last 16 were top seed and reigning national champion, Khurram Agha, third seed Naveen Perwani and fourth seed Imran Shehzad. They all conjured up fifth win apiece and play their last league match on Saturday.

Khurram accounted for Kamran Shah 4-0 the scores being 78-9, 55-18, 69-39 and 93-8. Naveen defeated Shahid Shafiq by the identical margin 68-6, 67-37, 76-23 and 62-36.

However, Imran won his match in contrasting style when he got the better of Kashif Khan 4-3 in the fully extended battle. Final scores were: 78-65, 62-71, 79-33, 22-89, 43-79, 94-26 and 73-13.

Results:

Mohammad Nazeer bt Mohammad Asif 4-2 (43-66, 29-78, 104-48, 80-17, 63-5, 64-58), Khurram Agha bt Kamran Shah 4-0 (78-9, 55-18, 69-39, 93-8), Naveen Perwani bt Shahid Shafiq 4-0 (68-6, 67-37, 76-23, 62-36), Rambel Gul bt Mustafa Haider 4-1 (78-16, 57-30, 35-72, 69-61, 58-34), Salman Shaikh bt Farrukh Usman 4-2 (55-46, 92-22, 72-54, 9-85, 7-70, 62-0), Mohammad Yousuf bt Arshad Siddiq 4-0 (77-10, 126-8, 52-37, 68-32), Imran Shehzad bt Kashif Khan 4-3 (78-65, 62-71, 79-33, 22-89, 43-79, 94-26, 73-13), Sohail Shehzad bt Sharjeel Mahmood 4-3 (50-58, 24-53, 79-40, 72-45, 78-42, 41-55, 69-28), Ziaur Rehman bt Sultan Ali 4-1 (27-65, 51-27, 60-44, 66-36, 67-59), Jawed Ansari bt Bilal Ahmed 4-3 (54-48, 23-65, 61-42, 46-74, 58-23, 56-57, 70-32).

Thursday’s fixtures:

Qasim Kamani v Nasim Paracha, Nauman Awan v Mohammad Riaz, Abdul Sattar v Abdul Jalil, Amanullah v Atif Mughal at 10am; Shafiq v Kamran Razzak, Balochistan No 6 v Farhan Mirza, Awais Honey v Mohammad Ali Zaidi, Balochistan No 5 v Ammar at 12noon, Vishan Gir v Mohammad Nazir, Irfan R. Khan v Balochistan No 2, Imtiaz Tipu v Shahid Shafiq, Mesam Zaidi v Balochistan No 1 at 2pm; Abu Saim v Farrukh Usman, Imran Qamar v Arshad Siddiq, Saqib Butt v Kashif Khan, Raees Khan v Sharjeel Mahmood at 4pm.