KARACHI: Unseeded Sindh Cup finalist Zulfiqar A Qadir earned a distinction by becoming the only unbeaten cueist to reach the knockout quarter-finals as the seeded quartet bit the dust in the eighth National Bank of Pakistan Ranking Snooker Championship at the bank’s sports complex on Friday.

Zullfiqar, who stunned top seed Babar Masih on Thursday, was on a break-building spree as he chalked up half century break in all the four frames while routing former Asian No 2 Mohammad Majid Ali straight to end his group A engagements on winning note.

He piled up breaks of 54, 53, 77, 63 as he was home 85-38, 72-22, 81-61, 84-36 against Majid.

Joining him in the last eight were three more outsiders – ninth seed Shahram Changezi, 15th seed Sharjeel Mehmood and 18th seed Mohammad Ijaz. The quartet have made it to the last eight at the expense of seeded cueists – second seed Sohail Shehzad, third seed Asjad Iqbal, fifth seed Abu Saim and eighth seed Shahid Aftab.

Top seed Babar Masih, fourth seed and national champion Mohammad Bilal, sixth seed Mohammad Sajjad and seventh seed Mohammad Asif lived up to their billing by crossing the first hurdle.

Fifth seed Saim hammered a century break of 106 while ending the unbeaten run of Bilal but went in vain as he (Saim) could not go beyond the group matches.

The best of nine frames quarter-finals will be played on Saturday at 10am.

Results: Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-0 (85-38, 72-22, 81-61, 84-36); Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (13-64, 64-47, 14-58, 67-36, 80-42, 35-67, 57-50); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Abdul Jawed (Punjab) 4-1 (55-60, 58-48, 102-7, 83-14, 62-46); Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-3 (57-49, 32-60, 72-25, 68-11, 35-53, 8-75, 75-27); Abdul Raheem (Punjab) bt Mohammad Iftekhar Khan (Sindh) 4-0 (77-63, 89-15, 67-33, 89-77); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (87-37, 71-30, 63-42, 47-67, 69-32); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) 4-2 (65-52, 20-56, 76-5, 21-82, 62-28, 88-38); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) 4-1 (58-43, 91-22, 57-1, 37-71, 76-43); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-1 (85-23, 74-37, 74-30, 11-65, 54-10); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-1 (114-13, 105-28, 65-40, 28-79, 67-9); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-0 (76-30, 44-20, 68-19, 52-47); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) 4-3 (82-34, 106-0,47-84, 62-70, 67-31, 48-75, 58-44); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (33-85, 36-75, 77-21, 89-0, 82-33, 89-20); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-1 (102-12, 45-56, 55-22, 72-61, 82-23); Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-2 (45-53, 62-52, 71-20, 0-99, 71-64, 66-31).

Saturday’s fixtures:

Quarter-finals: (Best of nine frames): At 10am: Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) v Shahram Changezi (Islamabad); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) v Mohammad Asif (Punjab); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Babar Masih (Punjab) v Mohammad Bilal (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2016