KARACHI: It was relatively an unusual day in the 44th National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Thursday when four cueists hammered five century breaks including 139 as former national junior champion M. Ahsan Javaid humbled sixth seed Sharjeel Mehmood in the fully stretched battle.

Four-time former National Bank Cup champion Asjad Iqbal erased the opening day’s highest break of 118 cracked by eighth seed Rambel Gul while compiling 139 in the second frame against Sindh qualifier Rizwan Hashmi in his 4-1 triumph. Asjad was home 20-63, 139-0, 85-46, 70-26, 69-63.

Former national master’s champion Imran Shehzad who lost his opening fixture to local player Zulfiqar Qadir the other day,also entered his name in century break performers scoring 103 in the fourth frame while routing Shaikh M. Mudassir 4-2 the scores being 30-102, 62-28, 36-88, 132-0, 74-36-, 50-41.

But it was incumbent NBP Cup champion Mohammad Ijaz who stole limelight with back-to-back frames of 129 and 137 as he blanked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Amir Sohail straight 86-0, 129-0, 137-0, 76-16.

Playing on the adjacent table Ijaz’s elder brother and former national champion Mohammad Sajjad who has been struggling with form came up with the day’s fifth break of 125 against Islamabad’s Ameer Hamza Khan. Sajjad won 66-46, 84-1, 65-47, 16-62, 125-1.

Ahsan, meanwhile, created second upset of the competition when he stunned Sharjeel 4-3 (17-80, 65-53, 53-67, 1-54, 68-33, 67-46, 47-33).

Results:

Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) 4-0 (77-11, 80-5, 74-39, 70-57), Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt M. Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) 4-0 (71-23, 71-37, 92-26, 65-15), Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt M. Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) 4-1 (20-63, 139-0, 85-46, 70-26, 69-63), Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-0 (117-0, 74-29, 72-52, 60-8), Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Mohammad Mudassir (Islamabad) 4-2 (60-38, 45-69, 38-71, 59-16, 91-0, 79-74), Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) bt Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (70-77, 49-38, 72-43, 54-47, 60-54), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt M. Imran Qamar (Punjab) 4-3 (33-75, 75-5, 72-11, 0-88, 35-70, 89-7, 82-7), Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Ali Raza (Sindh) walkover, Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) bt Abdul Jalil (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (56-12, 28-47, 52-41, 57-39, 58-30), Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (66-60, 58-22, 60-22, 37-75, 75-41), Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Shaikh M. Mudssir (Punjab) 4-2 (30-102, 62-28, 36-88, 132-0, 74-36-, 50-41), Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-1

(78-17, 55-24, 51-49, 59-62, 74-37), M. Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (17-80, 65-53, 53-67, 1-54, 68-33, 67-46, 47-33), Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-3 (11-54, 17-116, 75-16, 74-36, 48-64, 75-7, 70-13), Abdul Majid (Sindh) bt Saeed Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (12-97, 55-44, 71-1, 50-26, 58-28), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Farukh Usman (Sindh) 4-1 (35-64, 72-28, 93-22, 72-4, 73-0), Ali Haider (Punjab) bt Rashid Aziz (Punjab) 4-3 (77-22, 18-72, 46-59, 51-64, 74-0, 63-23, 76-55), Mirza Waqas Baig (Punjab) bt Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (63-2, 66-40, 57-19, 75-52), Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Abdul Hameed (Balochistan) 4-0 (87-0, 58-19, 75-15, 58-8), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Munawar Khaliq (Islamabad) 4-1 (33-67, 78-16, 90-9, 62-37, 70-37), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt S. Habib Shah (Balochistan) 4-0 (61-10, 75-2, 76-1, 76-25), Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (86-0, 129-0, 137-0, 76-16), Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Ameer Hamza Khan (Islamabad) 4-1 (66-46, 84-1, 65-47, 16-62, 125-1); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Amir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (65-32, 55-30, 64-56, 63-49).

Friday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), Abu Saim (Punjab) vs Abdul Hameed (Balochistan), Munawar Khaliq (Islamabad) vs Amir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) vs Ameer Hamza Khan (Islamabad), Abdul Sattar (Sindh) vs Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) vs S. Habib Shah (Balochistan).

At 12noon: Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Saeed Khan (Balochistan), Shafiullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Agha Bilawal (Sindh), Abdul Majid (Sindh) vs M. Ahsan Javaid (Punjab), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) vs Mirza Waqas Baig (Punjab), Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) vs Rashid Aziz (Punjab), Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Farukh Usman (Sindh).

At 2pm: Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) vs Abdul Jalil (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) vs Ali Raza (Sindh), Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) vs S M. Imran Qamar (Punjab), Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) vs Bahadur Khan (Balochistan), Amir Tariq (Punjab) vs Imran Shehzad (Punjab), Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) vs Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

At 4pm: Mohammad Asif (Punjab) vs M. Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh), Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Mubashir Raza (Punjab), Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) vs Ahmed Shah (Balochistan), Babar Masih (Punjab) vs Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh), Rabish Pervez (Balochistan) vs Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab), Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2019