KARACHI: Islamabad’s Shahram Changezi, the losing finalist of 40th national championship who slipped from second to fifth ranking, won back-to-back matches including hammering a century break as third ranking snooker cup got into action at hotel Movenpick Arcade on Thursday.

Also, low-profile Bahadur Khan and Shah Khan from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa created quite a stir by upsetting third seed Abdul Sattar and eighth seed Mohammad Asif Toba respectively.

Making amends of poor show in the last month’s seventh NBP Cup, Changezi, who has been selected for the Egypt tour, compiled a splendid break of 112 in the last frame while registering 4-2 victory over Ian Mark John of Sindh (77-41, 68-30, 62-0, 42-68, 59-65, 117-11) in group D opener.

Changezi’s next victim was his city-mate Mohammad Nouman Iqba,l who extended him (Changezi) to full length before bowing out. The former won the duel 74-8, 22-58, 32-77, 85-22, 80-31, 57-70, 66-21 which includes another elegant break of 73 in the fourth frame.

Meanwhile, the first and second sessions witnessed one upset each. It is pertinent to mention that both Bahadur and Shah Khan, who are in the best nick, had toppled Changezi and Asjad Iqbal 4-1 apiece in the last event.

Displaying similar performance, Bahadur shocked third seed and Egypt-bound Sattar 4-3 (72-27, 30-63, 69-1, 11-62, 0-101, 58-50, 72-1) while Shah removed Toba 4-2 the scores being 53-44, 55-41, 63-73, 58-56, 52-56, 64-58.

Meanwhile, top two seeds Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sajjad sent Abdul Raheem and Amir Tariq packing 4-1 respectively.

Results:

Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Abdul Raheem (Punjab) 4-1 (34-90, 72-64, 82-8, 69-5, 81-52); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Amir Tariq (Punjab) 4-1 (110-22, 107-10, 57-58, 72-13, 58-44); Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-3 (72-27, 30-63, 69-1, 11-62, 0-101, 58-50, 72-1); Khaurram Agha (Sindh) bt Nouman Iqbal (Islamabad) 4-1 (16-80, 54-38, 69-49, 72-30, 51-42); Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-2 (53-44, 55-41, 63-73, 58-56, 52-56, 64-58); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Imran (Punjab) 4-2 (70-25, 25-72, 92-5, 16-68, 59-15, 64-1); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) 4-3 (39-95, 83-0, 44-80, 93-6, 33-87, 61-23, 67-51); Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-2 (77-41, 68-30, 62-0, 42-68, 59-65, 117-11); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) 4-1 (54-22, 56-31, 32-69, 58-44, 68-22); Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) bt Mohammad Nouman Iqbal (Islamabad) 4-3 (74-8, 22-58, 32-77, 85-22, 80-31, 57-70, 66-21); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhhwa) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-1 (68-56, 59-49, 64-50, 40-62, 68-64).

Friday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Imran Shehzad v Abdul Raheem, Shahid Aftab v Amir Tariq, Abu Saim v Bahadur Khan, Sultan Mohammad v Mohammad Nouman Iqbal.

At 12noon: Mohammad Asif Toba v Sharjeel Mehmood, Rambel Gul v Mohammad Faheem, Mohammad Bilal v Babar Masih, Aakash Rafique v Mohammad Majid Ali.

At 2pm: Mohammad Asif v Shah Khan, Mohammad Sajjad v Mohammad Imran, Abdul Sattar v Zulfiqar A. Qadir, Khurram Hussain Agha v Ian Mark John.

At 4pm: Shahram Changezi v Mohammad Majid Ali, Sultan Mohammad v Aakash Rafique.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2015

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