KARACHI: Sindh’s little-known cueist Zulfiqar A Qadir humbled last year’s IBSF 6-Reds semi-finalist and Punjab Cup champion Asjad Iqbal 4-1 as three century breaks highlighted the third day’s proceedings in the 41st National Snooker Championship at a local hotel on Wednesday.

Asjad, who gave a tough time to Indian snooker celebrity Pankaj Advani before going down 4-5 in the semi-final of the world spectacle at home, was far away then his original form and could only win a single frame.

Qadir won the battle 75-39, 76-16, 80-26, 9-91, 75-29.Playing his second match in the evening, Qadir blanked Mohammad Aqeel 4-0 in the group match. The scores were 67-44, 74-24, 68-39, 57-8.

In yet another upset, unseeded Farhan Noor overcome 10th seed Rambel Gul in the fully stretched battle 4-3 the scores being 63-57, 105-0, 21-66, 0-62, 79-29, 5-60, 66-38.

Meanwhile, Abdul Sattar, Farhan Noor and Sultan Mohammad piled up a century break apiece of 102, 104 and 110 respectively raising the number of century breaks to four. Imran Shahzad’s 117 against Mohammad Asif Toba on the opening day, is still the highest.

Results:

Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) bt Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (41-52, 30-59, 93-27, 65-7, 66-44, 29-35, 43-34); Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-2 (63-38, 34-69, 70-9, 54-45, 29-51, 55-42); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Jawed (Punjab) 4-1(69-28, 49-39, 12-58, 60-27, 60-30); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Raja Rashid (Islamabad) 4-1 (116-14, 48-75, 66-39, 60-56, 85-2); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-1 (75-39, 76-16, 80-26, 9-91, 75-29); Imran Shahzad (Punjan) bt Rashid Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1(64-62, 20-57, 75-15, 61-27, 47-37); Abdul Sattar (Sindh)) bt Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) 4-2 (60-20, 17-66, 28-57, 65-29, 60-33, 117-5); Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (63-57, 105-0, 21-66, 0-62, 79-29, 5-60, 66-38); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-1 (110-7, 70-12, 58-66, 126-1, 76-38); Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-0 (84-4, 73-47, 70-17, 96-6); Hunain Amir (Punjab) bt Mohammad Jawed (Punjab) 4-2 (73-32, 70-13, 21-80, 68-47, 8-64, 60-16); Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) bt Raja Rashid (Islamabad) 4-1 (100-0, 70-7, 36-62, 74-41, 102-15); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Aqeel (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4-0 (67-44, 74-24, 68-39, 57-8); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) 4-2 (70-20, 47-72, 68-, 67-57, 28-74, 79-23); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-0 (64-51, 67-18, 88-43, 97-17); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) 4-0 (94-7, 51-42, 57-48, 75-34); Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-0 (65-16, 73-52, 63-20, 73-38); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Ubaid Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (71-15, 51-45, 64-37, 45-0); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Mohammad Jawed Ansari (Sindh) 4-2(23-71, 70-14, 89-13, 95-6, 39-61, 90-2); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (58-51, 1-86, 92-9, 76-6, 57-58, 59-24).

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2016