KARACHI: The ongoing sixth National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Ranking Snooker Championship witnessed an upset galore as half-a-dozen seeded cueists were shocked by outsiders at the bank’s sports complex on Friday.
Yasir Shehzad, a former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cup champion, pulled off the first upset of the day when he sent second seed and losing finalists of this year’s national snooker championship, Hamza Akbar, packing 4-2 in the morning session. The former won the battle 22-67, 68-35, 61-32, 6-59, 59-23, 66-22.
In the same session veteran Mohammad Yousuf halted the winning run of fourth seed Sohail Shehzad inflicting 4-3 defeat. The former world champion fought back from two frames down to post 0-72, 9-72, 64-57, 67-54, 68-35, 13-83, 70-14 victory over his opponent.
In the second session, this year’s Sindh Cup runner-up Zulfiqar A. Qadir stunned former world champion and seventh seed Mohammad Asif 4-1 the scores being 76-6, 61-49, 30-83, 84-0, 84-44 and on the adjacent table former international Babar Masih removed former Pakistan No 1 and eighth seed Imran Shehzad by the identical margin of 4-1 (57-31, 72-16, 0-95, 78-48, 55-29).
Lower ranked Rambel Gul and Mujtahid Ali Shah — both from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa —
overcomes 12th seed Shahram Changezi and 14th Abu Saim respectively. The former registered 4-2 victory over Islamabad-based Shahram (69-18, 90-8, 30-69, 77-32, 28-68, 64-58) while the latter got the better of Saim 4-1 (57-21, 61-40, 59-48, 60-70, 58-44).
Results:
Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Khizar Aziz (Sindh) 4-1 (54-67, 64-7, 67-7, 67-13, 100-0); Yasir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Hamza Akbar (Punjab) 4-2 (22-67, 68-35, 61-32, 6-59, 59-23, 66-22); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-2 (84-0, 12-62, 61-18, 98-6, 33-71, 72-0); Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-3 (0-72, 9-72, 64-57, 67-54, 68-35, 13-83, 70-14); Mohammad Bilal (Punajb) bt Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) 4-0 (115-4, 90-12, 72-40, 103-0); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (91-31, 9-91, 82-25, 67-21, 59-17); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Asif 4-1 (76-6, 61-49, 30-83, 84-0, 84-44); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-1 (57-31, 72-16, 0-95, 78-48, 55-29); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (67-4, 56-65, 62-48, 58-47, 115-2); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Najeebullah Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (70-45, 51-65, 81-43, 60-33, 71-58); Mujtahid Ali Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-1 (57-21, 61-40, 59-48, 60-70, 58-44); Mohsin Amin (Punjab) bt Amir Tariq (Punjab) 4-3 (72-22, 22-71, 71-41, 52-58, 48-54, 74-14, 71-45); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) 4-2 (69-18, 90-8, 30-69, 77-32, 28-68, 64-58); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab) 4-0 (64-46, 72-32, 87-28, 75-5).
Saturday’s fixtures:
At 10am: Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Aneel Emanuel (Sindh), Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab) v Mohammad Faiq Malik (Punjab), Mohammad Imran (Punjab) v Abdul Raheem (Punjab), Mohammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh) v Nauman Awan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).
At 12noon: Mujtahid Ali Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohsin Amin (Punjab) v Mohammad Faheem (Punjab), Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) v Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh), Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).
At 2pm: Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) v Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) v Babar Masih (Punjab), Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Khizar Aziz (Sindh), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) v Yasir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).
At 4pm: Abu Saim (Punjab) v Farhan Noor (Punjab), Amir Tariq (Punjab) v Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab).
Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2014
