KARACHI: Three seeded cueists bit the dust when they met their fate and could not go beyond the league matches in the 42nd National Snooker Championship at the Karachi Gymkhana on Friday.

The trio that comprised sixth seed Zulfiqar A. Qadir, ninth seed Sharjeel Mehmood and 12th seed Abu Saim were among the top 12 cueists who have earned direct entry into the country’s premier snooker event.

Outsiders Mubashir Raza, Sattar and Nadir Miraan have cruised into the knockout round at their expense.

It is pertinent to mention that debutant Mubashir and wildcard Mohammad Ahsan Javaid have made it to the knockout stage the other day.

Former Sindh champion Mohammad Ishtiaq and two former Pakistan No 1 Imran Shehzad and Khurram Agha have also sneaked into the last-16 round as league matches completed on Friday.

The nine seeded players who justified their billing include defending champion Mohammad Bilal, Babar Masih, Mohammad Asif, Mohamma Sajjad, Sohail Shehzad, Shahram Changezi, Asjad Iqbal, Shahid Aftab and Mohammad Ijaz.

Four more century breaks — Aakash Rafique (100), Mohammad Asif (121), Farhan Noor (101) and Mohammad Majid Ali (110) highlighted the last day of the league matches.

Meanwhile, the best of nine frames pre quarter-finals will be played on Saturday. The first session starts at 10am followed by the second at 1pm.

The following are the groups champions and runners-ups:

A: Mohammad Bilal, Mohammad Ahsan Javaid

B: Babar Masih, Khurram Agha

C: Mohammad Asif, Imran Shehzad

D: Mohammad Sajjad, Mohammad Ishtaiq

E: Sohail Shehzad, Naddir Miraan

F: Mohammad Ijaz, Sattar

G: Shahid Aftab, Shahram Changezi

H: Asjad Iqbal, Mubashir Raza

Results:

Nadir Miraan (Punjab) bt Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) 4-3 (64-25, 67-12, 45-65, 80-13, 9-73, 15-93, 66-33); Hunain Amir (Punjab) bt Ahmed Shah (Baliochistan) 4-0 (57-33, 74-24, 72-14, 69-31); Aamir Shehzad (Punjab) bt Umair Zulfiqar (Islamabad) 4-0 (57-43, 59-29, 58-35, 75-17); Mohammad Uzair Aziz (Sindh) bt Allah Noor (Balochistan) 4-3 (61-41, 32-62, 62-50, 85-38, 35-59, 33-65, 57-48); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) 4-2 (49-52, 44-59, 69-17, 64-9, 116-1, 68-0); Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) 4-3 (13-69, 23-58, 53-35, 0-103, 72-1, 68-26, 57-36); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (67-9, 58-8, 77-0, 62-25); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Umer Farooq (Punjab) 4-0 (65-17, 62-41, 56-46, 83-11); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Moihammad Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (71-27, 55-32, 82-13, 105-14); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Haris (Punjab) 4-1 (75-25, 137-0, 70-1, 7-73, 8-68); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-2 (62-22, 46-61, 65-22, 40-61, 53-20, 76-24); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-3 (34-69, 76-15, 72-9, 13-64, 62-6, 2-59, 62-16); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) 4-3 (15-91, 68-0, 61-0, 33-75, 0-80, 56-23, 67-7); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) 4-1 (76-34, 81-22, 23-48, 72-9, 60-15); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (66-42, 47-67, 60-34, 68-51, 59-51); Munawwar Khaliq (Islamabad) bt Mohammad Naeem Jaffar (Balochistan) 4-0 (73-31, 60-33, 70-27, 76-9; Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Shaikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab) 4-2 (52-70, 61-32, 65-1, 75-19, 0-91, 61-37); Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Hunain Amir (Punjab) 4-2 (90-0, 68-41, 48-80, 18-48, 62-0, 73-12); Umair Zulfiqar (Islamabad bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-3 (49-23, 65-69, 73-65, 44-53, 58-59, 69-39, 57-8); ; Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Allah Noor (Balochistan) 4-0 (67-38, 57-22, 108-9, 58-8); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Zahoor Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-2 (117-0, 8-75, 77-53, 117-0, 53-59, 76-24); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-0 (79-20, 63-47, 69-2, 99-0); Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) bt Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (54-61, 68-46, 4-78, 77-17, 56-34, 30-58, 67-56); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) bt Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (70-31, 103-24, 79-54, 113-8); Nadir Miraan (Punjab) bt Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) 4-3 (74-22, 36-50, 55-51, 35-71, 77-48, 58-66, 59-24); Sattar (Sindh) bt Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) 4-0 (92-0, 74-51, 90-7, 67-26); Aamir Shehzad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Afzaal (Punjab) 4-1 (65-0, 82-61, 14-63, 62-60, 64-42); Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Uzair Aziz (Sindh) 4-3 (31-66, 26-83, 76-2, 61-33, 11-56, 65-26, 55-2).

Saturday’s fixtures:

Pre quarter-finals (best of nine frames)

At 10am: Asjad Iqbal v Imran Shehzad; Mohammad Ahsan Javaid v Mohammad Ijaz; Shahid Aftab v Mohammad Ishtaiq; Nadir Miraan v Babar Masih.

At 1pm: Mohammad Sajjad v Mubashir Raza; Sattar v Sohail Shehzad; Mohammad Asif v Khurram Agha; Shahram Changezi v Mohammad Bilal.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2017