KARACHI: With back-to-back upset wins under his belt, unseeded Farhan Noor has emerged as a new find of the 41st National Snooker Championship which is progress at a local hotel.

Fresh from his triumph over 10th seed Rambel Gul the other day, Noor continued his heroics while routing the seventh seed Shahid Aftab straight in group G on Thursday. He was home 75-51, 60-10, 63-24, 75-22.

With two wins and a defeat under his belt so far, Noor has emerged as a strong contender for crossing the first hurdle and continue his exploits in the knockout round.Another rising cueist Mohammad Majid Ali, who has reached his career best fifth national ranking after joining the senior fold, stretched his unbeaten run when he subdued Rashid Mehmood 4-0 (67-33, 95-14, 65-28, 66-10) to register third victory in his goup.

Majid had prevailed over former national champion Mohammad Asif Toba 4-3 on Wednesday.

Results:Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-3 (68-46, 33-80, 76-21, 53-65, 17-118, 76-40, 48-11); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Rashid Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (67-33, 95-14, 65-28, 66-10); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Khurram Agha (Sindh) 4-0 (99-0, 57-42, 58-37, 102-15); Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-0 (75-51, 60-10, 63-24, 75-22); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-2 (50-62, 52-42, 66-33, 42-67, 65-15, 82-0); Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) bt Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) 4-0 (106-19, 84-8, 67-45, 79-27); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Hunain Amir (Punjab) 4-1 (33-55, 68-24, 69-60, 63-16, 51-23); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) 4-1 (56-23, 46-58, 74-9, 70-63, 83-16); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Aqeel (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (68-42, 94-0, 80-31, 72-28); Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (86-50, 53-47, 49-81, 13-55, 78-47, 52-32); Ian Mark John (Sindh) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-0 (52-13, 60-25, 65-25, 75-6); Mohammad Iftekhar Khan (Sindh) bt Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) 4-1 (73-12, 70-14, 18-51, 54-50, 49-43); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Aamir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (66-35, 67-42, 49-13, 59-31); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-0 (67-55, 90-6, 72-1, 96-1); Mohammad Jawed (Punjab) bt Ubaid Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (59-43, 73-30, 74-12, 60-68, 60-18); Mohammad Jawed Ansari (Sindh) bt Raja Rashid (Islamabad) 4-0 (77-26, 78-11, 108-15, 84-10); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (41-52, 107-2, 52-67, 89-6, 60-36, 52-55, 76-27).

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2016