KARACHI: Unseeded reigning junior under-18 world snooker champion Mohammad Naseem Akhtar pulled off the biggest upset to date when he toppled former world champion and second seed Mohammad Asif 4-2 to step into the last-16 round of the Jubilee Insurance 43rd National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Friday.

The 17-year-old Naseem, a native of Sahiwal, surprised the pundits of the game while overcoming more than double his age opponent 42-17, 61-30, 27-71, 35-63, 75-4, 70-57 in his last group B fixture.

Strangely, despite passing of seven months, Naseem, who did the country proud by capturing the junior world snooker title at Beijing on July 11 last year, is waiting to get employment letter that was publicly announced by the National Bank of Pakistan president, Saeed Ahmed at a ceremony.

Besides Naseem, five other cueists have ensured a berth in the pre-quarter-finals. They include top seed Asjad Iqbal (group A), Mohammad Bilal (group C), Aakash Rafique (group D), Abdul Sattar (group G) and Babar Masih (group H).

The remaining 10 names will become clear on completion of the league matches on Saturday.

Meanwhile, in yet another upset, Sindh champion Sohail Shahzad, bronze medalist of the 2010 Asian Games in snooker team event, sent seventh seed Khurram Agha packing 4-1 in all-Sindh clash.

The former won the battle 77-20, 99-23, 58-8, 54-78, 65-41.

Fifth seed Mubashir Raza, who had lost two group matches so far, hammered a century break of 125 against Balochostan’s low-profile Bahadur Khan in the second frame while returning 4-1 victorious the scores being 54-38, 125-0, 56-46, 30-62, 73-48.

Results:

Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (54-38, 125-0, 56-46, 30-62, 73-48); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (57-31, 73-16, 71-0, 56-60, 35-56, 64-8); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) 4-1 (77-20, 99-23, 58-8, 54-78, 65-41); Mohammad Abdullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) 4-2 (71-19, 58-57, 36-70, 62-76, 76-53, 71-31); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-1 (40-71, 73-25, 71-27, 69-38, 58-29); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-1 (40-54, 67-22, 72-8, 59-43, 58-35); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Haris Tahir (Punjab) 4-0 (62-50, 71-29, 65-51, 70-32); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-3 (49-59, 77-8, 47-52, 57-24, 0-79, 67-27, 55-40); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Jahangir Yar Mohammad (Balochistan) walkover; Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-2 (42-17, 61-30, 27-71, 35-63, 75-4, 70-57); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-3 (48-62, 65-25, 21-54, 85-21, 9-70, 57-33, 55-53); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) 4-0 (56-47, 92-16, 60-19, 60-50); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (9-83, 56-44, 56-35, 83-31, 69-30); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-0 (93-9, 66-59, 100-13, 82-19); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Awaisullah (Punjab) 4-2 (5-52, 1-77, 64-57, 66-46, 94-6, 59-34); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Imran Shahzad (Punjab) 4-0 (83-23, 51-9, 109-1, 52-42); Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) bt Amir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (77-70, 86-32, 34-73, 67-34, 35-61, 29-54, 62-39).

Thursday’s remaining results:

Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Noman Javed (Islamabad) 4-1 (53-43, 22-67, 95-7, 63-49, 50-14); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Samiullah (Balochistan) 4-0 (68-29, 106-14, 55-35, 66-47); Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-1 (82-57, 58-48, 73-32, 0-99, 83-8); -- Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Rashid Mehmood Abbasi (Islamabad) 4-3 (62-25, 21-80, 26-76, 81-47, 14-44, 56-1, 53-14); Abdul Javaid (Punjab) bt Turyali Aziz (Balochistan) 4-1 (59-7, 65-24, 79-13, 1-69, 53-17); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) 4-1 (65-1, 47-51, 68-13, 59-29, 60-22); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Usman Ahmad (Punjab) 4-2 (58-6, 28-62, 75-106, 62-57, 65-44, 43-18); Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) bt Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) 4-3 (62-53, 44-63, 59-32, 38-70, 63-18, 56-63, 63-18); Aamir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mehmood Khan (Balochistan) walkover; Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (69-42, 60-19, 58-11, 84-6).

Saturday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) v Mohammad Faizan (Sindh); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Awaisullah Munir (Punjab); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) v Amir Shahzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Qadeer Abbas (Punjab) v Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab); Umair Alam (Sindh) v Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab); Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) v Imran Shahzad (Punjab).

At 12noon: Haris Tahir (Punjab) v Noman Javed (Islamabad); Samiullah (Balochistan) v Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Ali Haider (Punjab); Rashid Mehmood Abbasi (Islamabad) v Mohammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh); Turyali Aziz (Balochistan) v Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Farhan Noor (Punjab).

At 2pm: Mubashir Raza (Punjab) v Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) v Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab); Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) v Abdul Sattar (Sindh); Mohammad Abdullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab); Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan) v Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Imran Shahzad (Punjab).

At 4pm: Babar Masih (Punjab) v Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) v Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) v Shaikh M. Mudassir (Punjab); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Mohammad Umar (Punjab); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) v Usman Ahmad (Punjab); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) v Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2018