KARACHI: Defending champion and second seed Mohammad Asif suffered second defeat in four days, dampening his chances to cruise into knockout round in the 44th National Snooker Champion­ship at Karachi Gymkhana on Saturday

The 36-year-old former world champion now has two wins and and as many defeats under his belt in group B. After losing to Mubashir Raza in the opening fixtures, he went down 2-4 to Sindh qualifier M. Rizwan Hashmi on Friday evening.

However, he recovered from the jolt to whip his pupil Asjad Iqbal 4-2 with scores 22-71, 30-77, 59-2, 60-32, 59-57, 77-4.

Meanwhile, reigning national U-18 champion Shaikh M. Mudassir carved out 4-2 victory over former national junior U-21 runner-up Amir Tariq to post second win in three games. He was home 19-64, 84-11, 13-63, 65-51, 75-15, 78-9.

Mohammad Majid Ali (100), Sharjeel Mahmood (114) and Haris Tahir (104) conujured up a century break apiece against their opponents that took the events tally of century breaks to 12.

Results:

Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-2 (22-71, 30-77, 59-2, 60-32, 59-57, 77-4); Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt M. Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) 4-3 (32-94, 16-88, 62-10, 26-55, 114-8, 64-13, 68-16); Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) bt Mubashir Raza (Punjab) 4-2 (49-34, 25-57, 81-8, 17-62, 74-58, 64-13); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (80-0, 29-62, 67-17, 114-1, 89-18); Mohammad Mudassir (Islamabad) bt Rabish Pervez (Balochistan) 4-3 (49-65, 58-27, 68-48, 41-71, 54-41, 14-62, 68-28); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) 4-1 (31-56, 65-56, 77-36, 85-55, 62-37); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) 4-2 (63-9, 53-10, 101-4, 56-68, 48-57, 71-11); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) 4-1 (76-24, 33-70, 81-35, 64-10, 60-36); Ali Raza (Sindh) bt M. Imran Qamar (Punjab) 4-3 (74-38, 7-83, 73-56, 32-65, 59-10, 24-65, 68-26); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) 4-1 (56-69, 91-19, 76-35, 63-55, 53-36); Shaikh M. Mudssir (Punjab) bt Amir Tariq (Punjab) 4-2 (19-64, 84-11, 13-63, 65-51, 75-15, 78-9); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (26-73, 58-41, 71-13, 77-2, 45-74, 37-1); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Abdul Majid (Sindh) 4-3 (59-61, 41-79, 78-1, 74-5, 45-58, 115-0, 59-15); Shafiullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Haris Tahir (Punjab) 4-2 (57-17, 6-114, 55-54, 72-58, 56-65, 68-32); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt M. Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) 4-3 (48-74, 59-24, 39-62, 50-42, 33-57, 61-36, 72-12); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (44-68, 8-68, 69-9, 24-64, 78-24, 74-21, 54-42); Rashid Aziz (Punjab) bt Farukh Usman (Sindh) 4-2 (52-11, 52-59, 21-58, 63-55, 56-6, 58-14); M. Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-2 (67-72, 70-37, 40-61, 61-48, 55-30, 68-43); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (64-35, 84-64, 77-36, 23-68, 52-41); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-3 (55-56, 50-27, 61-14, 21-58, 27-59, 63-40, 66-26); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Rabish Pervez (Balochistan) 4-0 (70-9, 55-23, 76-9, 71-57).

Sunday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) vs Sultan Mohammad (Sindh), Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) vs Abdul Jalil (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) vs Ali Raza (Sindh), Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) vs Amir Tariq (Punjab), Shaikh M. Mudssir (Punjab) vs Bahadur Khan (Balochistan), Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) vs Imran Shehzad (Punjab).

At 12noon Mohammad Asif (Punjab) vs Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), M. Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) vs M. Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh), Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) vs Mubashir Raza (Punjab), Babar Masih (Punjab) vs Rabish Pervez (Balochistan), Mohammad Mudassir (Islamabad) vs Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh), Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab).

At 2pm: Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Abu Saim (Punjab), Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), Munawar Khaliq (Islamabad) vs Abdul Hameed (Balochistan), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) vs Abdul Sattar (Sindh), Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) vs Ameer Hamza Khan (Islamabad), Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) vs Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

At 4pm: Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Shafiullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Haris Tahir (Punjab) vs Saeed Khan (Balochistan), Abdul Majid (Sindh) vs Agha Bilawal (Sindh), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) vs Abdul Raziq (Balochistan), Ali Haider (Punjab) vs Mirza Waqas Baig (Punjab), Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Rashid Aziz (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2019