KARACHI: Half-a-dozen cueists, including three outsiders, sneaked into the last-16 on the completion of day four league matches in the 10th National Bank of Pakistan ranking snooker championship at the bank’s sports complex on Wednesday.

The seeded trio who crossed first hurdle includes top seed Mohammad Asif (A), eighth seed Zulfiqar A. Qadir (H) and 10th seed and defending champion Asjad Iqbal (G).

The three outsiders who were through to the knockout stage are junior Mohammad Shahbaz (D), former national champion Mohammad Asif Toba (F) and Sharjeel Mehmood (H).

The picture of eight groups would become clear on Thursday, the last day of the league, when the remaining 10 cueists join the fray.

Meanwhile, four cueists namely Mohammad Asif, his namesake Mohammad Asif (Toba), Asjad and Zulfiqar Qadir have maintained an unbeaten run so far winning all their three matches.

After losing to Shahid Aftab and Mohammad Bilal, the former IBSF world championship runner-up Mohammad Sajjad, who is lacking form, notched up his first victory when he recovered to beat Shaikh M. Mudassir in the fully stretched battle 4-3 the scores being 0-111, 47-62, 55-26, 81-9, 33-76, 77-4, 71-0.

Mudassir, however, stole limelight by slamming a century break of 111 in the first frame.

Results:

Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) 4-1 (56-9, 62-26, 58-18, 33-67, 60-14); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Abdullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (50-61, 67-11, 60-36, 55-23, 75-13); Abdul Javaid (Punjab) bt Haris Tahir (Punjab) 4-2 (16-62, 8-57, 63-31, 66-48, 72-53, 74-48); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Usman Ahmad (Punjab) 4-2 (68-0, 53-11, 52-79, 43-65, 73-31, 91-8); Ian Mark John (Sindh) bt Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (37-58, 9-74, 76-43, 78-30, 72-46, 61-13); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Shaikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) 4-3 (0-111, 47-62, 55-26, 81-9, 33-76, 77-4, 71-0); Imran Shehzad (Pjunba) bt Mohammad Umar (Punjab) 4-1 (64-19, 75-6, 80-45, 60-71, 72-42); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) 4-3 (117-5, 55-57, 35-57, 65-50, 78-44, 30-78, 53-37); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (56-12, 70-46, 67-27, 72-9); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-2 (99-2, 84-30, 66-40, 24-86, 22-61, 50-41); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mubashir Raza (Punjab) 4-2 (40-80, 74-55, 39-96, 61-51, 75-30, 67-30); Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-2 (72-17, 67-41, 24-73, 38-62, 66-40, 62-50); Rashid Mehmood Abbasi (Islamabad) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-3 (63-44, 61-0, 71-42, 41-85, 42-61, 25-69, 63-38); Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-2 (68-9, 30-79, 65-40, 71-35, 14-79, 54-10); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-3 (11-77, 53-67, 90-22, 46-19, 60-10, 54-62, 95-43).

Thursday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Mohammad Faizan (Sindh); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) v Haris Tahir (Punjab); Farhan Noor (Punjab) v Usman Ahmad (Punjab).

At 12noon: Rashid Mehmood Abbasi (Islamabad) v Ian Mark John (Sindh); Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) v Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) v Mohammad Umar (Punjab); Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad).

At 2pm: Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) v Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) v Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab); Ali Haider (Punjab) v Asjad Iqbal (Punjab); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) v Abdul Sattar (Sindh).

At 4pm: Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Agha Bilawal (Sindh); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) v Shahid Aftab (Punjab); Babar Masih (Punjab) v Sohail Shehzad (Sindh); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) v Qadeer Abbas (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2018