KARACHI: The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) compromised on principles by overruling an official’s decision of forfeiting a match after Agha Bilawal was red-handed caught smoking during a break against Ian Mark John in all-Sindh clash on day one of the 10th National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Ranking Snooker championship at the bank’s sports complex on Sunday.

“The PBSF president Munawwar Hussain Shaikh has let off the culprit on intervention of the offender himself and other cueists, while warning all participants of severe action if found smoking during the match in the future,” tournament director Naveed Kapadia told Dawn.

Earlier, the tournament director had took the action as per international law but upon his arrival the PBSF chief pardoned the cueist by awarding the sixth frame to his opponent as score stood three-all in the best of seven frames battle.

Bilawal, however, won the decisive frame to return 4-3 victorious with frame scores of 45-75, 57-21, 72-16, 0-121, 71-46, 0-1 (awarded to Ian), 58-51.

Meanwhile, four seeded cueists — third seed Babar Masih, fourth seed Mohammad Majid Ali, fifth seed Mohammad Ahsan Javaid and seventh seed Ali Haider — suffered shock defeats on the opening day.

National champion and top seed Mohammad Asif, losing finalists of the country’s premier snooker championship and second seed Mohammad Bilal conjured up emphatic victories over their respective opponents.

Asif blanked Sarbuland Khan straight 131-0, 79-22, 71-26, 81-54 while Bilal was home 4-1 against Shaikh M. Mudassir 64-7, 49-73, 68-28, 58-55, 78-15.

Defending champion Asjad Iqbal came up with 4-2 victory over Haris Tahir (41-73, 71-0, 66-1, 6-83, 68-5, 58-51).

The opening day of the competition passed without a century break.

Results:

Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Sarbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (131-0, 79-22, 71-26, 81-54); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Shaikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) 4-1 (64-7, 49-73, 68-28, 58-55, 78-15); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Babar Masih (Punjab) 4-0 (68-24, 64-17, 70-52, 72-55); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-2 (67-23, 7-65, 69-61, 52-44, 28-99, 56-28); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) 4-2 (74-11, 68-0, 0-87, 58-28, 51-65, 74-35); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Abdullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (48-58, 71-27, 54-42, 62-49, 49-61, 73-6); Abdul Javaid (Punjab) bt Ali Haider (Punjab) 4-2 (28-81, 52-73, 74-9, 68-47, 65-26, 50-22); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (47-62, 69-25, 31-63, 66-63, 71-13, 63-75, 66-45); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-3 (45-75, 57-21, 72-16, 0-121, 71-46, 0-1, 58-51); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-0 (89-6, 83-22, 54-28, 57-48); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Umar (Punjab) 4-1 (72-10, 71-59, 54-53, 59-90, 76-35); Musadiq Mehmood (Islamabad) bt Qadeer Abbas (Punjab) 4-2 (70-28, 24-75, 77-15, 71-34, 14-70, 61-58); Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (56-41, 31-71, 70-29, 27-63, 80-40, 66-25); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-0 (66-22, 77-16, 61-0, 49-2); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Haris Tahir (Punjab) 4-2 (41-73, 71-0, 66-1, 6-83, 68-5, 58-51); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Usman Ahmad (Punjab) 4-2 (62-29, 2-83, 31-74, 67-22, 78-31, 22-56).

Monday’s fixtures:

10:00am: Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) vs Mohammad Faizan (Sindh); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) vs Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab); Ali Haider (Punjab) vs Haris Tahir (Punjab); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) vs Usman Ahmad (Punjab).

12noon: Mohammad Asif (Punjab) vs Ian Mark John (Sindh); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) vs Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab); Babar Masih (Punjab) vs Mohammad Umar (Punjab); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) vs Musadiq Mehmood (Islamabad).

2:00pm: Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Umair Alam (Sindh); Rambail Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Abdullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) vs Abdul Javaid (Punjab); Farhan Noor (Punjab) vs Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

4:00pm: Rashid Mehmood Abbasi (Islamabad) vs Sarbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) vs Shaikh M. Mudassir (Punjab); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) vs Imran Shehzad (Punjab); Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2018