KARACHI: Two former national champions, Mohammad Asif Toba and Shahid Aftab, who are ranked below top 10, along with second seed Babar Masih have confirmed their places in the knockout quarter-finals by staying unbeaten in the league matches of the third national ranking snooker championship at the Karachi Gymkhana on Thursday.

The quarter-final line-up will be completed at the conclusion of the league matches on Friday.

The trio of Asif Toba (A), Shahid (D) and Babar (B) hogged limelight by crossing the first hurdle of winning all their four group matches apiece. The trio play their last fixtures on Friday.

Toba stunned eighth seed Asjad Iqbal 4-1 (10-63, 62-14, 55-22, 69-14, 46-37) while Shahid created quite a stir while getting the better of fifth seed Mohammad Ijaz 4-2 (69-59, 0-101, 64-48, 77-34, 20-57, 113-0).

Babar, meanwhile, chalked up a magnificent 4-1 victory over former Pakistan No 1 Khurram Agha. The scores were 34-62, 80-38, 56-13, 64-25, 63-20.

In two other upsets, Rambel Gul trounced third seed Mohammad Majid Ali 4-1 the scores being 77-26, 13-77, 65-44, 62-53, 69-35 while Sharjeel Mehmood sent seventh seed Aakash Rafique packing 4-1 (40-74, 68-4, 55-38, 54-20, 41-3).

Results:

Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-1 (75-9, 69-34, 86-10, 0-87, 72-13); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) 4-0 (72-47, 48-43, 48-10, 72-31); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Umair Alam (Sindh) 4- 2 (6-73, 53-61, 64-32, 59-58, 55-43, 53-30); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Ali Haider (Punjab) 4-0 (86-13, 68-55, 70-60, 73-72); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-1 (10-63, 62-14, 55-22, 69-14, 46-37); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (40-74, 68-4, 55-38, 54-20, 41-3); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) 4-2 (28-57, 65-25, 65-64, 25-59, 65-64, 71-48); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-2 (69-59, 0-101, 64-48, 77-34, 20-57, 113-0);Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-1 (59-40, 79-8, 20-64, 65-0, 68-6); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) 4-1 (34-62, 80-38, 56-13, 64-25, 63-20); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-1 (77-26, 13-77, 65-44, 62-53, 69-35); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-2 (71-50, 68-13, 69-70, 102-0, 37-75, 57-28); Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (68-8, 67-79, 42-74, 67-9, 64-24, 66-37); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-3 (30-59, 68-43, 23-60, 60-44, 55-40, 0-64, 61-24); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Ali Haider (Punjab) 4-0 (54-33, 64-47, 62-12, 56-40).

Friday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) v Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab), Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) v Umair Alam (Sindh), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) v Ali Haider (Punjab).

At 12noon: Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) v Agha Bilawal (Sindh), Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) v Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab), Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Abdul Sattar (Sindh), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) v Haris Tahir (Punjab).

At 2pm: Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), Babar Masih (Punjab) v Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) v Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) v Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2018