KARACHI: With half-a-dozen cueists amongst the top 10, Punjab as expected, dominate the latest national rankings released by the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) the other day.

Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa equally shared the remaining four slots.

The rankings showed a sudden rise by two lower-ranked cueists — Mohammad Ijaz and Rambel Gul — as senior cueist Mohammad Asif retained his top slot. Previously ranked 22nd, the former has jumped to fifth spot by capturing his maiden title in the 10th National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) ranking snooker championship while the latter has leaped nine places to occupy 10th spot.

Ijaz’s emergence on the horizon is a good omen for the game while Rambel’s resurgence is an indicator of his hard work.

While Babar Masih (second) and Mohammad Majid Ali (third) go one step up, Mohammad Bilal has slipped two places to fourth.

Zulfiqar A. Qadir (sixth) and Sultan Mohammad (ninth) did the Sindh proud. Qadir, who had lost 5-8 to Asif in the third ranking final last year, suffered 1-5 loss again at the hands of Asif in the NBP ranking quarter-final.

Besides Rambel, seventh-placed Aakash Rafique is the other Khyber Pakhtunkhwa player who is among the top 10.

Four-time NBP Cup champion Asjad Iqbal, who despite squandering his title, has leaped two placed to occupy eighth position.

Top 10 ranking players:

1-Mohammad Asif (Punjab), 2-Babar Masih (Punjab), 3-Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab), 4-Mohammad Bilal (Punjab), 5-Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab), 6-Zulfiqar A Qadir (Sindh), 7-Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), 8-Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), 9-Sultan Mohammad (Sindh), 10-Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunhwa).

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2018