ISLAMABAD: All seeded players after winning their last league-round matches moved into the pre-quarter-finals of the Jubilee Insurance 9th National U-21 Snooker Championship, being played at the Pakistan Sports Complex’s Billiards and Snooker Hall.

On Monday, M. Haris (KP) defeated M. Aftab from Balochistan 65-33, 40-36, 47-61, 36-48, 72-37.

Whereas, inform Naseem Akhtar from Punjab outclassed Balochistan’s Hiskail Baloch 77-25, 63-16, 79-26.

The advancement of Naseem in the pre-quarter-final stage forced the organisers to change the date of U-18 final. Earlier, both U-18 and U-21 finals were slated to be held on Thursday.

“It will be difficult for Naseem, who has already reached the U-18 final, to play two finals in one day if he also reaches the U-21 final. Therefore, we have decided to hold the U-18 final on Wednesday instead of Thursday,” said tournament director Naveed Kapadia.

It is relevant to note here that last year’s champion M. Saqib, because of being overage, is not participating in this championship and there are open chances for six inform players, who are unbeaten in the ongoing tournament, to lift the trophy.

Results:

Sohaib Usman (Islamabad) bt Junaid Akhjtar (KP) 71-26, 19-64, 45-40, 63-28; Usman Ahmed (Punjab) bt Mohammad Mehmood (Islamabad) 66-34, 72-10, 33-0; Rabish Perwaiz (Balochistan) bt Talal Nawaz (KP) 47-61, 63-14, 50-23, 69-65; Mohammad Haris (KP) bt Mohammad Aftab (Balochistan) 65-33, 40-36, 47-61, 36-48, 72-37; Shaikh Ahmed (KP) bt Zakir Hussain (Balochistan) 64-42, 50-31, 39-23; Mohammad Azam (KP) bt Mohammad Arif (Balochistan) 72-41, 58-48, 41-45, 59-31; Fahad Ghaffar (Islamabad) bt Mohammad Shabaz (Punjab) 52-39, 60-37, 60-44.

Published in Dawn January 24th, 2017