KARACHI: Rawalpindi-based Babar Masih, who proved his mettle by capturing maiden national ranking title of his career earlier this month, has surged to top by pushing the reigning national snooker champion Mohammad Bilal to fourth position.

In an interesting situation, the two cueists have swapped places in the latest national rankings released by the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) after the second ranking event on Friday.

The 6-5 frames triumph over Asjad Iqbal has helped fourth-ranked Babar leap three places and attain his career best No 1 slot.

Former Asian Games bronze medallist in team event and runner-up of the 41st national snooker championship Sohail Shehzad of Sindh has retained his second place.

Asjad Iqbal, who humbled Sohail 5-1in the semi-final, has jumped four places to occupy third place.

Experienced player Abu Saim, who was at 16th place in the last rankings, has also caught the eye by routing many seasoned campaigners to attain fifth spot ahead of sixth-placed Mohammad Sajjad and seventh-placed Mohammad Asif. The latter two cueists are struggling with their forms.

Former national champion Shahid Aftab has also shown improvement by claiming eighth position. Previously he was at 13th spot.

Shahram Changezi and Abdul Jawed have relegated to ninth and 10th places respectively.

Top 16 rankings:

1-Babar Masih (Punjab), 2-Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), 3-Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), 4-Mohammad Bilal (Punjab), 5-Abu Saim (Punjab), 6-Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab), 7-Mohammad Asif (Punjab), 8-Shahid Aftab (Punjab), 9-Shahram Changezi (Islamabad), 10-Abdul Jawed (Punjab), 11-Mohd Faheem (Punjab), 12-Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh), 13-Ian Mark John (Sindh), 14-Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab), 15-Shartjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), 16-Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2016