KARACHI, Sept 23: Five cueists completed the quarter-final lineup in the third ranking snooker championship which entered knockout stage at hotel Sheraton on Monday.

The five who made it to the last eight from four groups were Mohammad Bilal, Mohammad Sajjad, Imran Shehzad, Shahid Aftab (all from Punjab) and Abdul Sattar (Sindh). They joined Khurram Agha, Mohammad Asif and Amir Tariq who have ensured a berth in quarters on Sunday.

The eight cueists include three outsiders — veteran and 16th seed Khurram (Sindh), 18th seed and national junior championship runner-up Amir and 23rd seed Bilal. The latter two belonged to Punjab. The three seeded cueists who could not go beyond league were second seed Asjad Iqbal, third seed Hamza Akbar and eighth seed Abu Saim.

Khurram, Asif and Amir meanwhile, rounded of their league engagements by maintaining an unbeaten record. Khurram blanked Mohammad Javed straight 121-0, 125-0, 54-16, 61-52. The triumph included a century break of 121 in the first frame. It was his third century break of the event so far.

World amateur snooker champion Asif avenged his NBP Cup defeat while routing Asjad Iqbal 4-2 (92-18, 44-73, 69-66, 64-65, 55-47, 101-01) including a break of 101 in the sixth frame while Amir carved out a 84-40, 55-54, 86-6, 85-9 victory over former national champion Naveen Perwani.

In the other matches, Sindh’s Sattar chalked up an authoritative 4-0 victory over Hamza that earned him a place in quarters from group C. Similarly, Bilal was through by getting the better of Mohammad Majid Ali 4-1 in group B clash.

The best of nine frames quarter-finals will be played on Tuesday in two separate sessions. Khurram is drawn to meet Bilal while Sajjad is pitted against Sattar in the first session which starts at 10.00am.

Asif will come across Pakistan No 1 Imran Shehzad while Shahid Aftab will figure against Amir Tariq in the second session which begins 12noon.

Results:

Ayaz Khan (Islamabad) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) 4-3 (0-87, 61-8, 30-60, 119-11, 9-61, 87-16, 77-58); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-1 (71-1, 32-76, 61-32, 63-49, 84-34); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Amir Rasheed (Punjab) 4-0 (74-10, 65-48, 70-14, 48-0); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Umair Alam (Sindh) 4-0 (82-9, 60-57, 62-33, 67-62); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Mohammad Javed (Punjab) 4-0 (121-0, 125-0, 54-16, 61-52); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) 4-0 (77-59, 78-43, 70-8, 56-29); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Naveen Perwani (Sindh) 4-0 (84-40, 55-54, 86-6, 85-9); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-0 (72-0, 74-25, 44-34, 78-36); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-2 (91-28, 81-37, 74-1, 67-68, 7-69, 82-12); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-2 (92-18, 44-73, 69-66, 64-65, 55-47, 101-01); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Hamza Akbar (Punjab) 4-0 (61-55, 79-0, 87-17, 79-7); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-3 (65-53, 85-22, 41-49, 12-69, 77-0, 21-67, 63-44).

Tuesday’s fixtures:

Quarter-finals: (best of nine frames)

At 10.00am: Khurram Agha (Sindh) v Mohammad Bilal (Punjab); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Abdul Sattar (Sindh).

At 12noon: Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Imran Shehzad (Punjab); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) v Amir Tariq (Punjab).