KARACHI, Sept 22: Three players, including world amateur snooker champion Mohammad Asif, were through to the knockout quarter-finals in the third ranking snooker championship at hotel Sheraton on Sunday.

The other two cueists who have crossed first hurdle includes veteran Khurram Agha and youthful Amir Tariq. All of them have an unbeaten record of winning four of the five group fixtures.

Khurram, a former Pakistan No. 1, who is currently ranked 16th, continued his giant killing run in group A by getting the better of Islamabad’s Ayaz Khan in fully stretched battle 38-80, 71-7, 7-72, 84-6, 26-103, 86-0, 65-31. With two century breaks already under his belt, he mustered two elegant breaks of 84 and 86 in the fourth and sixth frames on his way to registering success.

Asif enjoys a clear edge over opponents in group B as he blanked Mohammad Majid Ali straight 102-8, 63-33, 80-12, 71-29.

As far group C, national junior runner-up Amir Tariq is on song with a clean slate. He made a comeback from two frames down to post 21-66, 37-58, 86-1, 60-9, 52-17, 44-15 victory over Amir Rasheed.

Group D is wide open and at least three players – Shahid Aftab, Mohammad Sajjad and Farhan Noor – are in the run for two slots in quarters.

Meanwhile, three seeded players namely Hamza Akbar, Mohammad Sajjad and Abu Saim suffered stunning defeats on Sunday.

Sharjeel Mehmood carved out 4-2 victory over Hamza (40-63, 61-38, 83-26, 85-29, 18-51, 57-46), Farhan Noor defeated Sajjad by the identical score line of 4-2 (20-74, 50-53, 85-26, 65-19, 59-40, 75-55) while Mohammad Yousuf whipped Saim, also by 4-2 (63-17, 30-69, 68-30, 26-57, 64-47, 74-33).

The league matches concludes on Monday.

Results:

Ayaz Khan (Islamabad) bt Mohammad Javed (Punjab) 4-3 (88-4, 28-50, 81-26, 0-74, 62-37, 32-55, 74-13); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) 4-1 (45-65, 81-1, 77-0, 70-56, 79-18); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Amir Rasheed (Punjab) 4-2 (21-66, 37-58, 86-1, 60-9, 52-17, 44-15); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Mohsin Amin (Punjab) 4-1 (74-24, 66-41, 59-51, 53-55, 79-11); Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-2 (63-17, 30-69, 68-30, 26-57, 64-47, 74-33); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-0 (102-8, 63-33, 80-12, 71-29); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (70-25, 59-36, 54-70, 73-1, 66-34); Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-2 (20-74, 50-53, 85-26, 65-19, 59-40, 75-55); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Ayaz Khan (Islamabad) 4-3 (38-80, 71-7, 7-72, 84-6, 26-103, 86-0, 65-31); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Babar Mmasih (Punjab) 4-1 (43-52, 59-24, 58-26, 53-26, 68-57); Amir Rasheed (Punjab) bt Naveen Perwani (Sindh) 4-1 (65-37, 87-7, 7-77, 95-31, 69-34); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-2 (34-75, 68-18, 21-73, 46-9, 43-32, 84-17); Imran Shahzad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) 4-2 (103-34, 35-61, 62-45, 6-79, 82-26, 64-49); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-2 (110-9, 70-6, 46-68, 78-58, 6-60, 62-25); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Hamza Akbar (Punjab) 4-2 (40-63, 61-38, 83-26, 85-29, 18-51, 57-46); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-1 (69-1, 71-1, 22-51, 64-25, 73-30); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-0 (64-2, 109-28, 58-43, conceded fourth frame); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Mohsin Amin (Punjab) 4-3 (91-21, 70-62, 46-66, 62-17, 23-43, 44-61, 78-40).

Monday’s fixtures:

At 10.00am: Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) v Ayaz Khan (Islamabad), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) v Mohammad Bilal (Punjab), Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Amir Rasheed (Punjab), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) v Umair Alam (Sindh).

At 12.00noon: Khurram Agha (Sindh) v Mohammad Javed (Punjab), Babar Masih (Punjab) v Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh), Naveen Perwani (Sindh) v Amir Tariq (Punjab), Farhan Noor (Punjab) v Sohail Shehzad (Sindh).At 2.00pm: Imran Shehzad (Punjab) v Abu Saim (Punjab), Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) v Mohammad Asif (Punjab), Hamza Akbar (Punjab) v Abdul Sattar (Sindh), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) v Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab).