KARACHI: The reigning junior world champion M. Naseem Akhtar sent shockwaves when he toppled fourth seed Abdul Sattar 4-1 as the Jubilee Insurance third ranking snooker championship commenced here at Karachi Gymkhana on Friday.

Making amends of his lacklusture performance in the NBP Cup in August, Naseem of Punjab conceded only one frame while winning the opening fixture 61-37, 45-90, 62-18, 68-60, 52-26 in style.

Sindh’s Sattar, losing semi-finalist of the NBP Cup, failed to match the brilliance of his young opponent who sent a warning to seniors.

Meanwhile, Naseem’s three contemporaries fell prey to the top three seeds. Mohammad Rafiq went down 2-4 to top seed Asjad Iqbal 2-4, Umer Farooq suffered identical 2-4 defeat at the hands of second seed Shahid Aftab while Sheikh M. Mudassir was sent packing straight by third seed Mohammad Ijaz.

National champion Mohammad Sajjad, who has slipped to fifth in rankings, struggled to overcome Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Sharjeel Mahmood in the fully stretched battle 74-27, 36-77, 37-67, 66-53, 9-65, 72-23, 86-5.

Former world champion Mohammad Asif hogged the limelight by piling up spectacular break of 141, six short of maximum 147 break, in the last frame while getting the better of Zulfiqar A. Qadir 4-2 the scores being 68-57, 7-71, 32-73, 58-18, 92-0, 145-0.

Besides, three more century breaks were registered, two by Shahid Aftab 102 and 105 against Umer Farooq and 109 by Asjad against Rafiq.

At the time of filing this report, remaining eight matches were in progress.

Results:

Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (61-33, 34-88. 109-14, 6-73. 62-28. 87-37); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Umer Farooq (Punjab) 4-2 (21-61, 55-25, 64-57, 8-65, 115-1, 111-4); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Sheikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) 4-0 (73-36, 71-10, 77-69, 71-32); M. Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-1 (61-37, 45-90, 62-18, 68-60, 52-26); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-0 (70-50, 68-40, 70-15, 102-0); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-1 (75-25, 101-16, 104-9, 25-83, 62-30); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (110-0, 73-66, 64-21, 63-7); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (74-27, 36-77, 37-67, 66-53, 9-65, 72-23, 86-5); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) 4-2 (69-14, 44-78, 64-30, 59-16, 34-70, 71-25); M. Ahsan Javiad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) 4-1 (76-6, 84-29, 29-59, 60-22, 66-39); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-2 (53-62, 66-83, 75-71, 72-25, 66-65, 82-7); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) 4-2 (68-57, 7-71, 32-73, 58-18, 92-0, 145-0).

Saturday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) v Mohammad Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) v Umer Farooq (Punjab), Mubashir Raza (Punjab) v Shaikh M. Mudassir (Punjab), Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v M. Naseem Akhtar (Punjab).

At 12noon: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) v Shahram Changezi (Islamabad), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) v M. Ahsan Javaid (Punjab), Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) v Imran Shahzad (Punjab), Abdul Sattar (Sindh) v Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh).

At 2pm: Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) v Mohammad Rafiq (Khyber Paktunkhwa), Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) v Umer Farooq (Punjab), Babar Masih (Punjab) v Shaikh M. Mudassir (Punjab), Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v M. Naseem Akhtar (Punjab).

At 4pm: Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) v Shahram Changezi (Islamabad), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) v M. Ahsan Javaid (Punjab), Mubashir Raza (Punjab) v Imran Shahzad (Punjab), Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh).

At 5pm: Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) v Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab), Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) v Abu Saim (Punjab), Babar Masih (Punjab) v Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Sharjeel Mahmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2017