KARACHI: Qualifier Mubashir Raza from Punjab is among the seven cueists who have stepped into the knockout round (last-16) on the penultimate day of the league matches in the 42nd National Snooker Championship at the Karachi Gymkhana on Thursday.

Raza, a resident of Lahore, who has made his debut in the senior circuit, has finished runner-up in group H behind Asjad Iqbal.

Raza completed his group engagements on winning note while routing Amir Sohail of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4-2 the scores being 7-58, 20-64, 72-21, 63-12, 63-9, 80-1.

Another rank outsider and wildcard Mohammad Ahsan Javaid also made his mark registering an exciting 4-1 victory over former Asian junior No 2 Mohammad Majid Ali to join top seed and the defending champion Mohammad Bilal from group A.

Javaid was home 71-60, 32-62, 84-17, 63-6, 62-15.

Bilal, Babar Masih, Mohammad Sajjad and Sohail Shehzad have already lived up to their credentials by crossing the first hurdle smoothly.

The remaining nine players of the last-16 round will be known after completion of the league matches on Friday.

The situation in some groups is quite complex. Former world champion and the third seed Mohammad Asif who is in pool C has won four out of five games so far and plays his last league matches against Haris on Friday.

Trio of sixth seed Zulfiqar A. Qadir, Ijaz and Sattar (group F), seventh seed Shahram Changezi, Agha Bilawal and Shahid Aftab (group G) are in contention for a place in the knockout round. Two players from each group will qualify for the next stage. Meanwhile, two more century breaks of 119 by Shahid Aftab and 100 by Mohammad Rafiq highlighted day’s matches.

Results:

Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Mohammad Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (55-4, 84-16, 91-21, 79-36); Haris (Punjab) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) 4-2 (75-2, 69-24, 16-113, 87-37, 21-86, 59-26); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (29-64, 4-59, 97-0, 61-51, 74-0, 77-9); Nadir Miraan (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-0 (63-24, 82-42, 62-19, 0-92); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) 4-1 (91-13, 92-22, 29-60, 60-35, 63-44); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Aamir Shehzad (Punjab) 4-0 (66-50, 119-1, 83-41, 60-42); Mohammad Uzair Aziz (Sindh) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (35-73, 24-64, 69-50, 0-89, 62-21, 93-41, 62-33); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-1 (71-60, 32-62, 84-17, 63-6, 62-15); Mohammad Saqib (Punjab) bt Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-1 (94-7, 73-23, 71-76, 107-3, 77-29); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (90-32, 65-2, 62-19, 85-30); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) bt Zeeshan Raza (Punjab) 4-2 (60-29, 28-68, 98-27, 62-41, 52-72, 69-34); Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) bt Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) walkover; Sattar (Sindh) bt Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (53-70, 11-72, 54-12, 43-65, 64-9, 68-16, 65-0); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (7-58, 20-64, 72-21, 63-12, 63-9, 80-1); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Umer Farooq (Punjab) 4-1 (73-56, 28-68, 74-42, 71-30, 58-14); Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) bt Mohammad Rafiq (Punjab) 4-3 (65-34, 96-16, 14-112, 74-44, 32-67, 1-74, 54-37); Haris (Punjab) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (74-37, 56-29, 56-62, 55-23, 71-21); Munawwar Khaliq (Islamabad) bt Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-2 (67-16, 59-66, 62-8, 14-65, 75-5, 101-9); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Shaikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab) 4-1 (1-0 (frame awarded toMudassir), 58-14, 0-77, 58-32, 86-9); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (80-21, 63-51, 33-66, 76-60, 14-83, 30-75, 66-18); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-0 (58-48, 73-17, 57-36, 66-36); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (70-35, 116-1, 58-16, 33-24); Shahid Shafiq (Punjab) bt Mohammad Afzaal (Punjab) 4-3 (48-59, 58-37, 16-79, 24-61, 77-50, 76-30, 61-56); Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (46-64, 58-57, 34-62, 60-18, 82-32, 4-87, 88-1); Zahoor Ahmed (Balochistan) bt Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) 4-1 (59-6, 82-45, 22-75, 60-43, 59-38); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (84-8, 62-69, 42-79, 60-37, 59-3, 60-61, 55-44); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) vs Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Naeem Jaffar (Balochistan) 4-1 (57-54, 7-61, 89-7, 68-53, 75-37).

Friday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Mohammad Faizan v Nadir Miraan, Hunain Amir v Ahmed Shah, Umair Zulfiqar v Aamir Shehzad, Allah Noor v Mohammad Uzair Aziz, Aakash Rafique v Musaddiq Mehmood, Khurram Agha v Fawad Khan, Bahadur Khan v Imran Shehzad.

At 12noon: Mohammad Bilal v Umer Farooq, Babar Masih v Mohammad Rafiq, Mohammad Asif v Haris, Mohammad Sajjad v Mohammad Naseem Akhtar, Sohail Shehzad v Abu Saim, Zulfiqar A. Qadir v Mohammad Ijaz, Shahram Changezi v Shahid Aftab.

At 2pm: Asjad Iqbal v Sharjeel Mehmood, Munawwar Khaliq v Mohammad Naeem Jaffer, Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir v Mohammad Faizan, Shah Khan v Hunain Amir, Agha Bilawal v Umair Zulfiqar, Farhan Noor v Allah Noor, Zahoor Ahmed v Mohammad Majid Ali.

At 4pm: Mohammad Asif Toba v Saeed Ahmed, Mohammad Yousuf v Mohammad Imran, Farhan Khan v Mohammad Ishtiaq, Nadir Miraan v Abdul Raziq, Ahmed Shah v Sattar, Aamir Shehzad v Mohammad Afzaal, Mohammad Uzair Aziz v Aamir Sohail.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2017