KARACHI: Fourth seed Sohail Shehzad stole limelight with an elegant break of 134 in his 4-3 triumph over the former national junior champion Mohsin Amin in the sixth National Bank of Pakistan Ranking Snooker Championship at the bank’s sports complex on Thursday.

Sohail’s sterling break, which is highest in the ongoing event so far, came in the third frame as he struggled to post 93-4, 25-65, 134-1, 56-72, 58-13, 12-67, 61-30 victory over his opponent in the match that went to full distance. Amin had suffered 2-4 loss at the hands of veteran Mohammad Yousuf on the opening day.

Sohail, 32, who has represented the country in two Asian Games – at Doha in 2006 and at Guangzhou in 2010 (team event bronze) – has consolidated his position in group D with back-to-back victories having beaten Mohammad Faheem on Wednesday.

Defending champion Asjad Iqbal continued his winning run by getting the better of Mujtahid Ali Shah 4-1. He was home 91-29, 31-74, 73-3, 57-32, 66-40.

National champion and top seed Mohammad Asif Toba blanked former Pakistan No 1 Khurram Agha straight the scores being 69-42, 82-26, 69-32, 77-30.

Former world amateur snooker champion Mohammad Asif chalked up second successive victory bt getting the better of Mohammad Imran 4-1 (60-62, 74-16, 72-48, 69-0, 117-0).

Meanwhile, fifth seed Mohammad Bilal suffered his second defeat when he went down to Rambel Gul in the fully extended battle. The latter won 30-64, 96-0, 79-31, 19-87, 104-7, 70-77, 55-45. Bilal’s chances have now become bleak for making it to the knockout stage.

Results: Wednesday’s remaining results:

Mujtahid Ali Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-3 (59-28, 56-66, 44-65, 63-54, 60-73, 59-35, 55-14); Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) bt Mohsin Amin (Punjab) 4-2 (69-13, 98-0, 5-63, 48-50, 72-49, 81-0).

Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) bt Aneel Emanuel (Sindh) 4-1 (85-46, 106-9, 17-65, 58-46, 58-37); Sultan Mohammad bt Abdul Raheem (Punjab) 4-0 (65-20, 96-12, 71-19, 70-59); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Nauman Awan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (44-67, 65-72, 61-14, 124-0, 36-56, 67-36, 65-21); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (62-56, 73-21, 26-65, 66-59, 61-4); Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) bt Amir Tariq (Punjab) 4-3 (32-72, 61-23, 36-61, 66-22, 58-9, 27-72, 63-56); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) 4-3 (30-64, 96-0, 79-31, 19-87, 104-7, 70-77, 55-45); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab) 4-1 (63-48, 56-71, 63-7, 62-30, 79-3); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Imran (Punjab) 4-1 (60-62, 74-16, 72-48, 69-0, 117-0); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh) 4-1 (59-51, 46-69, 80-22, 62-29, 65-30); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Khurram Agha (Sindh) 4-0 (69-42, 82-26, 69-32, 77-30); Hamza Akbar (Punjab) bt Najeebullah Khan (Balochistan) 4-2 (7-47, 49-9, 68-30, 71-32, 56-65, 68-39); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Mohsin Amin (Punjab) 4-3 (93-4, 25-65, 134-1, 56-72, 58-13, 12-67, 61-30); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mujtahid Ali Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (91-29, 31-74, 73-3, 57-32, 66-40).

Friday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) v Khizar Aziz (Sindh), Hamza Akbar (Punjab) v Yasir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) v Farhan Noor (Punjab), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) v Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab).

At 12noon: Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) v Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh), Abdul Sattar (Sindh) v Sharjeel Mahmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh), Imran Shehzad (Punjab) v Babar Masih (Punjab).

At 2pm: Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) v Najeebullah Khan (Balochistan), Abu Saim (Punjab) v Mujtahid Ali Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Amir Tariq (Punjab) v Mohsin Amin (Punjab).

At 4pm: Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) v Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) v Mohammad Imran (Punjab), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) v Mohammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh).

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2014