KARACHI: Two wildcards stunned seeded cueists while three century breaks were registered as the 43rd Jubilee Insurance National Snooker Championship began at the Karachi Gymkhana here on Monday.

Wildcard Mohammad Majid Ali created quite a stir when he sent fifth seed Mubashir Raza packing 4-1(39-60, 68-4, 69-23, 83-9, 56-14) in the first session.

Another wildcard Imran Shahzad also had a winning start when he toppled seventh seed and former Pakistan No 1 Khurram Agha 4-2, the scores being 57-9, 60-18, 40-55, 61-17, 35-55, 57-16.

Mubashir, 23, had emerged on the domestic horizon by making his maiden appearance in the country’s premier championship last year. Subsequently, he surged to the fifth spot in the national rankings and went on to don the green blazer while representing Pakistan at the IBSF world championship at Doha in November.

The 24-year-old Majid, who is a former national under-21 champion, has immense potential which came to the limelight when he made it to the Asian juniors final at Indore five years back where he lost to a Thai opponent to seize silver.

He had thrice represented the country at the junior under-21 Asian and the World championships apiece before moving to the senior cadre where he had been part of Pakistan team on three occasions so far.

With two national masters’ titles under his belt, Imran had also remained country No 1 in the past. Unfortunately, the title of country’s premier snooker championship has eluded him in his long career.

Third wildcard Asif Toba, meanwhile, went down fighting to local cueist Zulfiqar A. Qadir 3-4 in the fully stretched battle. The latter won a seesaw battle 66-8, 61-65, 20-78, 92-37, 68-33, 21-51, 89-26.

Top cueist Asjad Iqbal hammered a break of 120, which is highest so far, in the first frame while getting the better of Sindh’s Ian Mark John 4-1 (120-5, 80-34, 35-65, 68-20, 59-40).

Babar Masih and Haris Tahir were the two others cueists who notched up century breaks. Babar’s break of 101 came against Sharjeel Mehmood while Haris slammed a break of 112 against Sultan Mohammad.

Second seed and former world champion Mohammad Asif survived scare against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Sirbuland Khan before returning 4-3 victorious with scores of 81-41, 72-33, 51-58, 60-67, 44-67, 61-27, 67-31.

Three-time national champion Mohammad Sajjad started on poor note losing the group’s first match 2-4 to Sohail Shahzad.

The remaining six matches of the first day were in progress at the time of filing this report.

Results:

Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Mubashir Raza (Punjab) 4-1 (39-60, 68-4, 69-23, 83-9, 56-14); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-3 (66-8, 61-65, 20-78, 92-37, 68-33, 21-51, 89-26); Qadeer Abbas (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) 4-2 (19-57, 81-6, 67-28, 57-42, 1-90, 80-10); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) 4-3 (15-59, 7-59, 71-8, 16-86, 59-13, 48-32, 73-57); Mohammad Abdullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-3 (41-28, 47-63, 51-63, 67-20, 72-40, 50-41); Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan) bt Rambail Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (46-24, 25-65, 64-41, 34-52, 64-24, 66-17); Imran Shahzad (Punjab) bt Khurram Agha (Sindh) 4-2 (57-9, 60-18, 40-55, 61-17, 35-55, 57-16); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (66-18, 54-61, 8-68, 72-34, 62-14, 101-14); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) 4-0 (68-6, 73-9, 58-44, 60-40); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Samiullah (Balochistan) 4-1 (75-36, 65-34, 74-32, 22-56, 96-0); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-2 (101-11, 8-87, 73-12, 58-49, 47-65, 53-44); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Haris Tahir (Punjab) 4-3 (40-74, 78-48, 64-0, 37-82, 2-119, 88-76, 66-26); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-1 (120-5, 80-34, 35-65, 68-20, 59-40); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Sarbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (81-41, 72-33, 51-58, 60-67, 44-67, 61-27, 67-31); Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Shaikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) 4-3 (33-65, 10-50, 70-63, 64-1, 38-66, 67-27, 61-36); Rashid Mehmood Abbasi (Islamabad) bt Mohammad Umar (Punjab) 4-0 (71-36, 88-34, 51-8, 87-1); Ali Haider (Punjab) bt Jahangir Yar Mohammad (Balochistan) 4-0 (50-20, 80-18, 64-27, 71-32); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Mohammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh) 4-2 (68-47, 0-96, 21-72, 58-53, 98-27, 63-49).

Tuesday’s fixtures:

At 10:00am: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) vs Ali Haider (Punjab); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) vs Mohammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh); Shaikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) vs Ian Mark John (Sindh); Mohammad Umar (Punjab) vs Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Jahangir Yar Mohammad (Balochistan) vs Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) vs Rashid Mehmood Abbasi (Islamabad).

At 12noon: Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) vs Mehmood Khan (Balochistan); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) vs Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan); Usman Ahmad (Punjab) vs Abdul Javaid (Punjab); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) vs Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) vs Turyali Aziz (Balochistan); Musadiq Mehmood (Islamabad) vs Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

At 2:00pm: Mubashir Raza (Punjab) vs Qadeer Abbas (Punjab); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) vs Umair Alam (Sindh); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) vs Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) vs Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab); Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) vs Mohammad Abdullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Awaisullah Munir (Punjab) vs Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan).

At 4:00pm: Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) vs Ahmed Shah (Balochistan); Babar Masih (Punjab) vs Samiullah (Balochistan); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) vs Imran Shahzad (Punjab); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) vs Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Amir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab); Noman Javed (Islamabad) vs Sultan Mohammad (Sindh).

At 6:00pm: Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) vs Aamir Sohail (Punjab); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) vs Farhan Noor (Punjab); Usman Ahmad (Punjab) vs Mehmood Khan (Balochistan); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) vs Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan).

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2018