ISLAMABAD: Former world U-18 champion Mohammad Naseem Akhtar survived a scare from Shehryar Khan on the opening day of the fourth Jubilee Insurance National U-18 Snooker Championship here at the Pakistan Sports Complex on Thursday.

Naseem, the first Pakistani to clinch the U-18 World Snooker Championship held at Beijing in 2017, struggled to overcome a stiff challenge from Sindh’s U-18 champion Shehryar in the five-frame match. Naseem of Punjab eventually claimed the match 3-2 (51-47, 21-60, 56-18, 33-68, 53-51).

Meanwhile, defending champion Umer Khan of Punjab and last year’s runner-up Shaikh Mohammad Mudassir also won their opening-round matches in contrasting styles.

While Umer comfortably outclassed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Malik Rayyan Khan 3-0 (62-24, 55-31, 73-10), Punjab’s Mudassir struggled to overwhelm Faisal Ibrar Khan of Islamabad 3-2 (67-44, 84-36, 48-73, 40-53, 64-26).

Earlier, promising Ahsan Yousuf of Punjab taught a snooker lesson to Sindh’s Waqas Khan as the former outplayed the latter 69-21, 65-07, 69-06.

Results:

First round: Farhan Majeed (Punjab) bt Sajjad Abdullah (KP) 3-0 (71-24, 106-21, 78-22); Kamran Albert Masih (KP) bt Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) 3-1 (55-30, 29-52, 52-39, 48-44); Umer Khan (Punjab) bt Malik Rayyan Khan (KP) 3-0 (62-24, 55-31, 73-10); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Shehryar Khan (Sindh) 3-2 (51-47, 21-60, 56-18, 33-68, 53-51); Mohammad Rafiq (KP) bt Shehryar Abbas (Punjab) 3-0 (92-22, 113-07, 86-21); Iftikhar Hussain (Balochistan) bt Sheraz Raza (Sindh) 3-2 (51-47, 21-60, 56-18, 33-68, 53-51); Atif Arshad (KP) bt Umer Junaid (Sindh) 3-1 (65-11, 62-84, 69-50, 79-38); Shahzaib Malik (Punjab) bt Malik Muzammil Khan (KP) 3-0 (69-38, 49-16, 79-13); Raja Zohaib (Sindh) bt Mohammad Mohsin (Balochistan) 3-0 (97-31, 83-20, 71-17); Haider Abbas (Islamabad) bt Shaikh Qamber (Sindh) 3-1 (63-34, 24-52, 72-25, 52-33); Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) bt Talha Sakrani (Sindh) 3-0 (75-19, 70-37, 73-18); Shehryar Waseem (Punjab) bt Munsifuddin (KP) 3-0 (75-19, 70-37, 73-18); Ahsan Yousuf (Punjab) bt Waqas Khan (Sindh) 3-0 (69-21, 65-07, 69-06); Shaikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab) bt Faisal Ibrar Khan (Islamabad) 3-2 (67-44, 84-36, 48-73, 40-53, 64-26)

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2019