KARACHI: After Sharjeel Mehmood and Asif Toba’s heroics the other day, it was prodigy Haris Tahir’s turn to steal the limelight on the second day of the eighth National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Ranking Snooker Championship at the bank’s sports complex on Tuesday.

In fact, Haris, who is the reigning national under-18 champion and under-21 runner-up, set alarm bells ringing when he sent former Pakistan No 1 Imran Shehzad packing 4-1 (76-36, 87-19, 29-79, 131-17, 62-28) late Monday evening.

Playing with the same spirit, he surged to a commendable 3-1 lead against another much experienced Shehram Changezi in the morning session before going down 3-4 (99-38, 40-75, 49-73, 0-98, 63-18, 83-1, 54-28).

But he bounced back to stun another experienced hand and fifth seed Abu Saim 4-1 in the third group D encounter. He was home 68-54, 90-43, 71-37, 69-81, 59-42.

Drawn into group D, Haris was blanked 4-0 by the national champion Mohammad Bilal on Monday morning. Following two wins and as many defeats, he had to wait for the results of other matches with a hope to make it to the knockout stage.

In two other upsets, third seed Asjad Iqbal and eighth seed Shahid Aftab fell prey to lower-ranked cueists Khurram Agha and Zulfiqar A. Qadir respectively.

Agha, a former Pakistan No 1, demonstrated awesome form to whip three-time NBP Cup champion Asjad in the fully stretched battle 77-26, 59-34, 66-73, 41-68, 14-81, 65-30, 61-51.

Similarly, former Sindh No 2 Zulfiqar, sent former national champion Shahid packing 59-46, 63-9, 0-69, 84-32, 77-36.

Sohail Shehzad, Rambel Gul and Mohammad Sajjad hammered one century break apiece.

Results:

Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Abdul Raheem (Punjab) 4-1 (22-70, 98-4, 67-1, 68-13, 72-16); Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) bt Mohammad Saqib (Punjab) 4-2 (61-23, 28-72, 75-5, 8-93, 76-29, 77-18); Abdul Jawed (Punjab) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-2 (17-75, 66-44, 57-22, 48-61, 68-32, 79-1); Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) bt Haris Tahir (Punjab) 4-3 (99-38, 40-75, 49-73, 0-98, 63-18, 83-1, 54-28); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Mohammad Iftekhar Khan (Sindh) 4-0 (77-40, 94-15, 95-02, 96-0); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (43-66, 107-0, 69-17, 0-117, 94-8, 64-41); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-3 (77-26, 59-34, 66-73, 41-68, 14-81, 65-30, 61-51); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-1 (75-28, 66-40, 63-52, 9-66, 73-14); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-1 (59-46, 63-9, 0-69, 84-32, 77-36); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Saqib (Punjab) 4-1 (67-52, 59-1, 49-56, 71-1, 79-30); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-0 (85-4, 68-18, 66-0, 103-1(); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-1 (68-54, 90-43, 71-37, 69-81, 59-42); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-2 (87-34, 47-78, 121-16, 56-71, 55-40, 68-4); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-1 (57-61, 83-1, 97-47, 75-0, 63-59); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) 4-1 (76-56, 94-0, 55-68, 61-17, 54-2).

Monday’s remaining results:

Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-0 (80-16, 61-52, 54-43, 66-37); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-1 (76-36, 87-19, 29-79, 131-17, 62-28).

Wednesday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Zulfiqar A. Qadir v Abdul Raheem, Mohammad Asif v Rambel Gul, Mohammad Sajjad v Khurram Hussain Agha, Abu Saim v Imran Shehzad.

At 12noon: Babar Masih v Mohammad Majid Ali, Sohail Shehzad v Sharjeel Mehmood, Asjad Iqbal v Mohammad Asi Toba, Mohammad Bilal v Ian Mark John.

At 2pm: Shahid Aftab v Mohammad Iftikhar Khan, Mohammad Faheem v Rambel Gul, Abdul Jawed v Muzammil Khan, Shahram Changezi v Imran Shehzad.

At 4pm: Abdul Sattar v Mohammad Saqib, Mohammad Ijaz v Muzammil Khan, Mohammad Afzal v Haris Tahir.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2016