KARACHI: The duo of national champion Mohammad Bilal of Punjab and Sindh’s Zulfiqar A. Qadir crossed first hurdle as upsets continued in the eighth National Bank of Pakistan Ranking Snooker Championship at the bank’s sports complex on Thursday.

Both Bilal and Zulfiqar enjoy unbeaten record so far. Drawn into pool D, the former had won five out of five games while the latter had returned victorious in all the four games that he had played in pool A. The two cueists will round off their league engagements by playing last match on Friday.

The names of remaining six cueists will become clear when the league concludes on Friday.

Top three seeds – Babar Masih, Sohail Shehzad and Asjad Iqbal – have suffered defeats in their respective top three groups and their fate will be decided on completion of the league.

Former celebrities – Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sajjad – who are trailing at sixth and seventh rankings, are also struggling to find a place in the knockout round.

The 12th-ranked Zulfiqar, who is also former Sindh No 2, shocked top seed Babar Masih when he came from 2-3 down to register 4-3 victory.

The former hammered two elegant breaks of 87 and 70 in the first and fourth frames while winning 93-24, 11-63, 18-60, 82-7, 24-76, 61-58, 49-14.

This was Babar’s second stunning defeat in two days, the first being 2-4 at the hands of Mohammad Majid Ali on Wednesday, which has lessened his chances to qualify for the knockout stage.

Low-ranked Mohammad Afzal also stunned fifth seed Abu Saim 4-1 with the scores being 63-38, 91-38, 90-30, 8-71, 80-38.

Three more century breaks – 101 by Mohammad Sajjad, 112 by Mohammad Bilal and 100 by Mohammad Asif Toba – were registered that took the century breaks toll to 10. Sharjeel Mehmood’s break of 140 is still the highest.

Results:

Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Abdul Raheem (Punjab) 4-3 (61-27, 34-69, 22-80, 66-64, 37-67, 79-18, 57-39); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-1 (86-1, 92-39, 119-7, 36-73, 60-54); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-2 (102-1, 0-93, 43-68, 71-65, 69-28, 83-35); Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-1 (63-38, 91-38, 90-30, 8-71, 80-38); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Babar Masih (Punjab) 4-3 (93-24, 11-63, 18-60, 82-7, 24-76, 61-58, 49-14); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) 4-0 (90-16, 74-38, 78-23, 57-5); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Abdul Jawed (Punjab) 4-0 (81-40, 68-21, 52-31, 50-32); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) 4-0 (78-56, 73-34, 118-0, 58-17); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Mohammad Iftekhar Khan (Sindh) 4-2 (24-70, 71-45, 89-0, 71-10, 0-136), 76-15); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Saqib (Punjab) 4-2 (86-7, 55-36, 98-0, 42-69, 49-76, 86-0); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-0 (87-26, 101-15, 53-41, 76-25); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-1 (65-30, 75-42, 39-58, 71-54, 69-9); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) 4-1 (90-9, 63-74, 85-10, 91-0, 71-18); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Abdul Jawed (Punjab) 4-2 (82-6, 83-53, 77-27, 0-73, 58-45); Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-1 (78-12, 53-65, 96-56, 79-1, 100-9).

Friday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) v Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab); Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) v Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Abdul Jawed (Punjab) v Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab; Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) v Ian Mark John (Sindh).

At 12noon: Mohammad Iftekhar Khan (Sindh) v Abdul Raheem (Punjab); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) v Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) v Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh); Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) v Imran Shehzad (Punjab).

At 2pm: Babar Masih (Punjab) v Shahid Aftab (Punjab); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) v Mohammad Asif (Punjab); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) v Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) v Abu Saim (Punjab).

At 4pm: Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Abdul Sattar (Sindh); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) v Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab); Ian Mark John (Sindh) v Mohammad Afzal (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2016