KARACHI: Defending champion Asjad Iqbal opened his title defence campaign on a positive note when he brushed aside Fawad Khan 4-2 on the opening day of sixth National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Ranking Snooker Championship at bank’s sports complex on Wednesday.

Asjad, who has won the NBP title three times since its inception, conceded second and fourth frames before returning 60-36, 54-81, 90-4, 54-66, 77-7, 73-0 victorious over his opponent, who hails from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

At the outset, local cueist Aneel Emanuel created quite a stir when he sent fifth seed Mohammad Bilal packing 4-3 in the fully stretched battle.

Aneel recovered from two frames down to post 21-61, 32-64, 62-35, 60-14, 65-47, 54-62, 60-3 victory.

Former world amateur champion Mohammad Asif overcame little resistance from Abdul Raheem while inflicting a 4-2 defeat on him. The scores were 61-55, 17-88, 69-23, 56-43, 34-86, 74-50.

Results:

Aneel Emanuel (Sindh) bt Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) 4-3 (21-61, 32-64, 62-35, 60-14, 65-47, 54-62, 60-3); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Abdul Raheem (Punjab) 4-2 (61-55, 17-88, 69-23, 56-43, 34-86, 74-50); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Mohammad Faiq Malik (Punjab) walkover; Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Nauman Awan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (91-16, 63-40, 59-54, 42-68, 64-13); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (60-36, 54-81, 90-4, 54-66, 77-7, 73-0); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) 4-2 (91-33, 81-27, 19-76, 60-58, 28-75, 78-33); Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) bt Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (73-41, 64-46, 95-0, 7-86, 65-45); Mohammad Zaheer (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (95-1, 2-62, 64-28, 59-58, 21-89, 61-43); Mohammad Imran (Punjab) bt Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) 4-2 (67-60, 31-64, 17-68, 53-35, 65-8, 72-36); Mohammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh) bt Babar Masih (Punjab) 4-2 (76-35, 59-25, 24-78, 65-44, 8-78, 72-48); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Khizar Aziz (Sindh) 4-3 (64-41, 13-86, 69-60, 52-59, 10-91, 68-46, 63-29); Yasir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Najeebullah (Balochistan) 4-3 (33-75, 82-35, 79-42, 71-13, 20-69, 17-58, 92-41).

Thursday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) v Aneel Emanuel (Sindh), Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Mohammad Faiq Malik (Punjab), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) v Abdul Raheem (Punjab), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) v Nauman Awan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

At 12noon: Abu Saim (Punjab) v Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Amir Tariq (Punjab) v Mohammad Faheem (Punjab), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) v Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abdul Sattar (Sindh) v Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab).

At 2pm: Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Mohammad Imran (Punjab), Imran Shehzad (Punjab) v Mohammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh), Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) v Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh), Hamza Akbar (Punjab) v Najeebullah Khan (Balochistan).

At 4pm: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) v Mujtahid Ali Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) v Mohsin Amin (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2014