KARACHI: Junior champions of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan bit the dust at the hands of unseeded cueists on the opening day of Jubilee Insurance seventh national junior under-21 snooker championship which commenced at Movenpick Arcade on Monday.

Mohammad Saqib from Punjab created quite a stir by when he humbled Sindh junior champion and second seed Ali Zaman Khan straight 3-0 in group B match.

Playing on table No 2 in the first session, Saqib, who is Punjab No 6, made a short work of his opponent 75-15, 63-23, 101-0 to consolidate his chances for making it to the knockout stage.

Similarly, Sindh’s Gawish Khan sent Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s No 1 and third seed Ahsan Wakeel packing 50-16, 71-23, 85-40 in group C match on the adjacent table.

In the third upset, Punjab’s Haris Tahir removed Balochistan No 1 and fifth seed Taimoor Aftab 68-18, 72-45, 61-34 in group E encounter.

Meanwhile, Punjab champion and the top seed Abdul Raheem faced no difficulty while demolishing Sindh’s Junaid Ali 68-28, 60-29, 67-42 in group A opener.

Earlier, the organisers were compelled to revise the draws following withdrawal of three cueists — Saifullah (Punjab), Ather Ali (Balochistan) and Umer Javed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) — at the eleventh hour.

They were replaced by Adil Zafar (Punjab), Usman Khan and Mohammad Bilal (Sindh).

The best of five frames league concludes on Wednesday. It will be followed by knockout pre quarters, quarters, semis and final.

In the absence of defending champion and international Mohammad Majid Ali, who has become overage, the title is open to the 29 contestants.

Results:

Abdul Raheem (Punjab) bt Junaid Ali (Sindh) 3-0 (68-28, 60-29, 67-42); Mohammad Saqib (Punjab) bt Ali Zaman Khan (Sindh) 3-0 (75-15, 63-23, 101-0); Gawish Khan (Sindh) bt Ahsan Wakeel (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 3-0 (50-16, 71-23, 85-40); Mohammad Nouman Iqbal (Islamabad) bt Sameer Khan (Sindh) 3-1 (58-60, 84-0, 67-56, 61-21); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Taimoor Aftab (Balochistan) 3-0 (68-18, 72-45, 61-34); Tanveer Baluch (Sindh) bt Mohammad Kashif (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 3-2 (69-14, 20-64, 24-53, 69-25, 55-52); Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) bt Mohammad Azam (Balochistan) 3-0 (76-20, 80-12, 75-15); Fahad Khan (Sindh) bt Junaid Baber (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 3-0 (78-0, 58-32, 58-5); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Usman Khan (Sindh) 3-2 (65-38, 43-65, 37-69, 80-7, 53-17); Mohammad Bilal (Sindh) bt Sameer-ul-Hassan (Sindh) 3-1 (9-78, 66-45, 68-61, 53-25); Mohammad Ibrahim (Balochistan) bt Adil Zafar (Punjab) 3-1 (75-47, 53-19, 36-86, 66-56); Mohammad Hassan Anwar (Islamabad) bt Sanaullah Sattar (Sindh) 3-2 (70-18, 20-72, 42-49, 92-28, 73-53); Mohammad Adil (Balochistan) bt Mohammad Ali (Punjab) 3-1 (66-39, 66-41, 12-60, 60-44).

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2015

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