November 30, 2007	Friday	Ziqa’ad 19, 1428

KARACHI, Nov 29: Seasoned Naveen Perwani who claimed his maiden national title earlier this year hammered a century break in the decisive frame to inflict a 5-4 defeat on Vishan Gir on way to making the last four in the 11th Karachi Club Open snooker challenge on Thursday.

Three other cueists who joined Naveen in the pre-finals were Saleh Mohammad, Khurram Agha and Abu Saim.

Contrary to the Abu Saim — Qasim Kamani clash, the other matches played at the KC Amir Bakhsh Billiards Hall were keenly contested.

Naveen chalked up a century break of 104 in the ninth and final frame to emerge victorious against Vishan after the two fought a neck-and-neck battle.

Finals scores: 75-18, 37-79, 64-54, 15-80, 42-75, 79-33, 86-8, 32-85, 112-14.

He is drawn to meet seventh seed Abu Saim who outplayed qualifier Qasim Kamani 5-1 without any resistance the scores being 62-54, 82-25, 52-32, 33-74, 60-20, 71-28.

Khurram Agha, a former Pakistan No 1, had to struggle to overcome Imran Shahzad 5-4 in the fully stretched encounter.

Khurram, who failed to win any ranking title this year, chalked up 53-12, 69-49, 32-51, 91-22, 48-77, 97-13, 31-69, 51-72, 65-49 victory over Imran, the losing finalist of Latif Masters.

He is slated to take on Saleh Mohammad who accounted for Islamabad’s Shehram Changezi 5-3 (84-31, 80-19, 26-70, 56-58, 2-67, 100-9, 96-4, 58-29).

The best of nine frames semi-finals are to be played on Friday at 3.00pm.

Results:

Saleh Mohammad bt Shehram Changezi 5-3 (84-31, 80-19, 26-70, 56-58, 2-67, 100-9, 96-4, 58-29); Khurram Agha bt Imran Shahzad 5-4 (53-12, 69-49, 32-51, 91-22, 48-77, 97-13, 31-69, 51-72, 65-49); Abu Saim bt Qasim Kamani 5-1 (62-54, 82-25, 52-32, 33-74, 60-20, 71-28); Naveen Perwani bt Vishan Gir 5-4 (75-18, 37-79, 64-54, 15-80, 42-75, 79-33, 86-8, 32-85, 112-14).

Friday’s fixtures: (semi-finals) 3.00pm.

Saleh Mohammad v Khurram Agha; Abu Saim v Naveen Perwani