KARACHI, Nov 22: Three outsiders stormed into the last four at the expense of seeded cueists as top seed Shahid Aftab conjured up highest break of 140 to date in the fourth national ranking tournament at Sheraton hotel on Friday.
The trio who made their way in the semi-finals were sixth seed Mohammad Asif, 13th seed Mohammad Bilal and 14th seed Babar Masih, all belonging to Punjab.
The seeded cueists who met their fate were top seed Shahid, third seed Abdul Sattar and fourth seed Mohammad Sajjad.
The IBSF world amateur snooker champion Asif topped group A with seven wins and a defeat in eight matches and while Babar Masih finished runner-up with six victories and two defeats. In fact, Babar had a tie with Sajjad and was through on a better frame difference.
As far as group B is concerned, Bilal surprised the pundits by finishing on top with six wins and two defeats. He was followed by second seed Imran who had five wins and three defeats under his belt. A tie ensued between Imran and Asjad Iqbal but the former earned the slot as he had beaten the latter in the group.
The concluding day of the league revolve around two elegant breaks – first 135 by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Sharjeel Mehmood in the sixth frame against Babar Masih while registering 4-3 victory while the second break of 140, surpassing the event’s best 135, was piled up by Shahid in the third frame in his 4-2 triumph over Sajjad.
The best of 11 frames semi-finals will be played on Saturday starting 10.00am.
Results:
Mohsin Amin (Punjab) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-3 (67-58, 38-63, 75-1, 72-43, 10-59, 55-63, 67-23); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Amir Tariq (Punjab) 4-0 (60-47, 86-36, 73-0, 65-38); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Hamza Akbar (Punjab) 4-1 (62-45, 73-44, 85-55, 6-71, 71-21); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-2 (86-6, 80-36, 93-0, 49-71, 56-64, 71-24); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-3 (72-34, 38-62, 57-39, 28-57, 32-85, 61-0, 64-53); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Amir Tariq (Punjab) 4-0 (75-8, 78-34, 81-7, 70-37); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-1 (65-27, 91-0, 57-76, 67-58, 74-8); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-3 (40-63, 97-12, 57-66, 67-62, 58-72, 50-38, 55-50); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Babar Masih (Punjab) 4-3 (12-67, 39-62, 26-57, 70-44, 135-0, 52-29, 74-40); Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) bt Mohsin Amin (Punjab) 4-2 (66-34, 70-37, 77-65, 17-67, 37-55, 66-18); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Khurram Agha (Sindh) 4-0 (74-40, 61-58, 68-33, 77-39); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-0 (77-25, 65-32, 50-20, 67-14); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-2 (21-68, 52-60, 140-0, 73-12, 80-1, 79-41); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-0 (66-49, 73-0, 58-48, 59-27); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-0 (1-0 (frame awarded to Sattar), 72-10, 76-27, 62-53); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Hamza Akbar (Punjab) 4-1 (62-10, 26-71, 65-37, 63-15, 56-10); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) 4-3 (45-68, 69-18, 29-73, 64-27, 30-79, 87-21, 79-62); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Khurram Agha (Sindh) 4-0 (57-17, 75-45, 66-62, 62-6).
Saturday’s fixtures:
At 10.00am: First semi-final (best of 11 frames) Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) v Babar Masih (Punjab).At 1.30pm: Second semi-final Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Imran Shehzad (Punjab).
