KARACHI, Sept 20: Three century breaks besides half-a-dozen upsets highlighted the opening day of third ranking snooker championship which commenced at hotel Sheraton on Friday.
Country’s top cueist Imran Shehzad who won back-to-back matches in group A, hammered the day’s highest break of 131 in his 4-1 triumph against Mohammad Javed in the third session. His break came in the last frame of the match that he won 76-33, 64-71, 65-9, 72-42, 131-0. Earlier, in the morning, he was home 4-2 against Ayaz Khan the scores being 54-60, 63-26, 78-38, 68-2, 26-59, 73-43.
In a clash of veterans, Khurram Agha, the former Pakistan No 1, who is trailing in rankings, upset better ranked and a former world amateur snooker champion Mohammad Yousuf 4-2 piling up the first highest break of 118 in the opening frame. The former won the tie 127-0, 102-0, 64-78, 1-67, 67-46, 62-23.
Mohammad Majid Ali chalked up a break of 116 in fourth frame to earn some consolation before bowing down 2-4 to Babar Masih who had represented the country in the Asian championship at the same venue earlier this year. The latter won 33-69, 82-50, 88-8, 5-124, 65-38, 63-28.
Second seed Asjad Iqbal, the three-time winner of NBP Cup, made a poor start suffering shock defeats to low ranked cueists by identical score line of 3-4 in two matches of group B.
Mohammad Bilal carved out 8-127, 74-22, 81-19, 50-59, 72-11, 46-62, 80-5 victory over Asjad in the morning while the latter faced a similar fate at the hands of Mohammad Ishtiaq who inflicted 43-64, 0-69, 69-48, 110-24, 57-63, 65-57, 66-27 defeat on him in the evening.
National junior runner-up Amir Tariq, who is ranked 18th, created quite a stir by getting the better of Sindh’s Abdul Sattar and national champion Hamza Akbar.
He whipped sixth seed Sattar 41-73, 69-54, 72-35, 82-24, 22-59, 72-23 and accounted for Hamza 54-31, 59-18, 67-41, 41-67, 76-55 to consolidate his position group C.
Results:
Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Ayaz Khan (Islamabad) 4-2 (54-60, 63-26, 78-38, 68-2, 26-59, 73-43); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-3 (8-127, 74-22, 81-19, 50-59, 72-11, 46-62, 80-5); Hamza Akbar (Punjab) bt Amir Rasheed (Punjab) 4-0 (62-54, 67-8, 66-11, 59-7); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Mohsin Amin (Punjab) 4-2 (68-12, 80-8, 14-70, 27-62, 63-26, 57-8); Abu Saim bt Mohammad Javed (Punjab) 4-3 (73-16, 47-60, 57-29, 55-72, 28-69, 68-14, 79-44); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) 4-3 (38-60, 40-69, 87-0, 66-30, 85-0, 65-66, 55-24); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-2 (41-73, 69-54, 72-35, 82-24, 22-59, 72-23); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Umair Alam (Sindh) 4-1 (78-17, 69-22, 86-1, 16-82, 98-19); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) 4-2 (127-0, 102-0, 64-78, 1-67, 67-46, 62-23); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-2 (33-69, 82-50, 88-8, 5-124, 65-38, 63-28); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Naveen Perwani (Sindh) 4-2 (64-59, 41-81, 59-28, 51-64, 62-32, 64-9); Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-0 (66-51, 52-18, 74-11, 78-18); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Javed (Punjab) 4-1 (76-33, 64-71, 65-9, 72-42, 131-0); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Hamza Akbar (Punjab) 4-1 (54-31, 59-18, 67-41, 41-67, 76-55); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt umair Alam (Sindh) 4-3 (20-67, 82-57, 14-74, 73-19, 15-94, 69-57, 67-13); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-3 (43-64, 0-69, 69-48, 110-24, 57-63, 65-57, 66-27); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-0 (93-1, 80-16, 69-42, 65-27).
Saturday’s fixtures:
At 10.00am: Abu Saim (Punjab) v Khurram Agha (Sindh); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Babar Masih (Punjab); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) v Naveen Perwani (Sindh); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Mohsin Amin (Punjab).
At 12.00noon: Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) v Mohammad Javed (Punjab); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) v Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Amir Tariq (Punjab); Farhan Noor (Punjab) v Umair Alam (Sindh).
At 2.00pm: Imran Shehzad (Punjab) v Khurram Agha (Sindh); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) v Babar Masih (Punjab); Hamza Akbar (Punjab) v Naveen Perwani (Sindh); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) v Sohail Shehzad (Sindh).
At 4.00pm: Abu Saim (Punjab) v Ayaz Khan (Islamabad); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Mohammad Bilal (Punjab); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) v Amir Rasheed (Punjab); Farhan Noor (Punjab) v Mohsin Amin (Punjab).
At 6.00pm: Shahid Aftab (Punjuab) v Sultan Mohammad (Sindh); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Sohail Shehzad (Sindh).
