KARACHI: Three outsiders — Mohammad Asif, Rambel Gul and Sultan Mohammad — cruised into the last eight at the expense of seeded cueists — Asjad Iqbal, Sohail Shehzad and Mohammad Asif Toba — respectively as the third ranking snooker cup entered the knockout stage at National Bank Sports Complex on Wednesday.

National champion and top seed Toba suffered 2-4 loss to Mohammad Majid Ali, his third defeat in five matches, to bow out from group A thus making room for Sultan to join Majid.

Majid, a former Asian junior No 2, who emerged group champion by staying unbeaten, accounted for Toba 80-35, 59-32, 9-95, 63-47, 25-69, 75-33. The latter scored a break of 95 in the third frame.

Displaying pathetic performance by losing his last three matches on trot, fourth ranked Asjad followed the footsteps of Toba by making exit from group D. Asif, a former world champion whose ranking has slipped to ninth and Hamza Akbar progressed into quarters from the group.

In his last fixture, Hamza blanked Asjad 60-55, 79-30, 59-44, 78-66.

Seventh seed Sohail Shehzad met his fate losing fourth straight match of group B to Sajjad. The latter made a short work of Sohail 77-13, 90-24, 51-3, 87-1.

Rambel, a native of Peshawar whose ranking has gone to 19th, took the advantage by getting the better of Amir Tariq 4-1 in the last fixture the scores being 74-26, 61-35, 47-56, 66-40, 70-43.

Third seed Imran Shehzad and sixth seed Abdul Sattar earned a place into the last eight from group C. In a match of academic interest to decide the top two slots from the group the former got the better of latter straight 105-21, 108-28, 72-24, 61-7.

The best of nine frames quarter-finals will be played on Thursday at 11am.

Results:

Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-3 (71-45, 66-16, 52-25, 23-109, 72-77, 26-58, 64-26); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Abdul Raheem (Punjab) 4-3 (42-63, 54-65, 57-44, 37-36, 56-88, 56-44, 74-49); Mohammad Ishatiq (Sindh) bt Mohammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh) (walkover); Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) bt Babar Masih (Punjab) 4-0 (81-6, 46-34, 63-53, 70-49); Mohammad Imran (Punjab) bt Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Punjab) 4-3 (15-70, 72-23, 33-63, 65-6, 37-63, 86-0, 76-34); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Aakash Rafique (Punjab) 4-3 (39-62, 33-68, 84-8, 19-55, 74-0, 56-18, 82-3); Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) bt Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) 4-3 (12-57, 72-23, 57-10, 33-36, 51-57, 42-33, 80-8); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Yasir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (95-37, 66-14, 51-60, 28-65, 69-68, 65-25); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-2 (80-35, 59-32, 9-95, 63-47, 25-69, 75-33); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-0 (77-13, 90-24, 51-3, 87-1); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-0 (105-21, 108-28, 72-24, 61-7); Hamza Akbar (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-0 (60-55, 79-30, 59-44, 78-66); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Amir Tariq (Punjab) 4-1 (74-26, 61-35, 47-56, 66-40, 70-43); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) 4-3 (33-65, 87-51, 7-75, 87-0, 19-63, 65-1, 74-48); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Babar Masih (Punjab) 4-2 (21-65, 70-69, 84-30, 129-0, 63-75, 63-29).

Thursday’s fixtures:

At 11am: Quarter-finals (best of nine frames)

Imran Shehzad (Punjab) v Hamza Akbar (Punjab); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Sultan Mohammad (Sindh); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) v Abdul Sattar (Sindh); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2014