KARACHI: National champion and top seed Mohammad Bilal and three other seeded players crashed out as second seed Asjad Iqbal survived despite his defeat in the 11th National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) ranking snooker championship at bank’s sports complex on Tuesday.

The other three players who made exit are fourth seed Ali Haider, fifth seed Babar Masih and eighth seed Agha Bilawal.

At the end of third day, 14 players have crossed the first hurdle while the remaining two will join them in the last-16 after the conclusion of league matches on Wednesday.

Former Pakistan No 1 and veteran Imran Shahzad stormed back from three frames down to rout Asjad in the fully stretched battle 4-3. He won the duel 40-65, 27-76, 1-84, 58-5, 73-1, 69-43, 60-49.

Mohammad Shahbaz, runner-up of last year’s national U-21 snooker championship, fought back from 2-3 down to inflict 4-3 defeat on fourth seed Haider the scores being 93-47, 43-65, 82-54, 54-81, 16-78, 66-7, 65-1.

The 14 cueists who were through to the knockout pre-quarters are:

A: Mohammad Majid Ali and Ahsan Ramzan; B: Asjad Iqbal and Mohammad Ahsan Javaid; D: Mohammad Sajad and Mohammad Shahbaz; E: Rashid Aziz and Haris Tahir; F: Mohammad Ijaz and Mohammad Naseem Akhtar; G: Mubashir Raza and Mohammad Asif; H: Sohail Shahzad and Abdul Sattar.

Results:

Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (115-9, 21-64, 78-36, 71-26, 43-66, 113-9); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-3 (50-65, 66-35, 9-70, 41-68, 71-36, 79-31, 79-28); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-0 (82-17, 73-44, 96-0, 89-1); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) 4-0 (82-36, 65-5, 73-38, 72-37); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Babar Masih (Punjab) 4-2 (73-31, 114-1, 9-57, 60-32, 11-65, 54-40); Rashid Aziz (Punjab) bt M. Imran Qamar (Punjab) 4-0 (48-46, 90-9, 79-1, 68-66); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-3 (22-78, 56-54, 84-23, 22-80, 74-57, 30-71, 63-15);

Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab) 4-0 (75-1, 86-37, 62-5, 61-16); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-3 (31-58, 83-6, 30-72, 14-57, 70-36, 55-52, 78-29); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (72-30, 73-31, 71-65, 42-68, 79-12); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Ali Haider (Punjab) 4-3 (93-47, 43-65, 82-54, 54-81, 16-78, 66-7, 65-1); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-3 (61-15, 45-85, 58-55, 29-59, 62-33, 45-64, 75-51); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) 4-0 (60-50, 61-54, 55-17, 64-54); Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) 4-0 (69-16, 98-23, 105-13, 64-0); Imran Shahzad (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-3 (40-65, 27-76, 1-84, 58-5, 73-1, 69-43, 60-49); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Mohammad Mudassir (Islamabad) 4-0 (92-47, 73-15, 75-23, 64-30).

Monday’s remaining results:

Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-1 (29-58, 48-29, 64-44, 65-45, 88-8); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) 4-0 (72-44, 64-33, 66-40, 56-2); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) 4-1 (67-52, 73-40, 14-84, 77-55, 68-26).

Wednesday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) vsRambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Abu Saim (Punjab) vs Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Ali Ali Haider (Pu jab) vs Shahid Aftab (Punjab); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab)vs Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab).

At 12.30pm: Pre quarter-final.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2019