KARACHI: Two more seeds — second seed Asjad Iqbal and sixth seed and defending champion Mohammad Ijaz — made their exit in the 11th National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) ranking snooker championship at the bank’s sports complex here on Wednesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, four players including top seed Mohammad Bilal, fourth seed Ali Haider, fifth seed Babar Masih and eighth seed Agha Bilawal had failed to go beyond the league stage the other day.

Third seed Zulfiqar A. Qadir and seventh seed Mohammad Asif are the only two seeded cueists who have survived and made it to the last eight.

The former kept his chances alive while getting the better of Abdul Sattar 5-1 (82-0, 56-18, 54-73, 74-8, 129-0, 78-69) in all-Sindh encounter. Earlier in the day he completed his league engagements by getting the better of Rambel Gul straight 57-0, 133-0, 20-17, 1-0. In fact, Rambel had conceded the last two frames due to sickness.

Former world champion Asif handed 5-2 defeat to holder Ijaz the scores being 40-63, 62-48, 83-35, 0-128, 106-4, 66-57, 64-10 to stay in contention.

The day also saw four more century breaks including the highest 140 by Mohammad Majid Ali against Mohammad Shahbaz. The break that erased the previous best of 136 compiled by Babar Masih, failed to take him to last eight as he lost 2-5. Shahbaz won 17-97, 66-39, 0-140, 64-46, 67-60, 69-55, 66-0.

The three other centurions were Zulfiqar (102), Mohammad Sajjad (110), Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (103).

Results:

Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (57-0, 133-0, 20-17, 1-0); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (36-73, 57-50, 20-64, 65-22, 63-53, 75-64); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Ali Haider (Punjab) 4-1 (79-20, 68-61, 5-90, 64-9, 68-15); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) 4-0 (116-11 65-34, 71-25, 56-47).

Pre quarter-finals:

Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 5-2 (17-97, 66-39, 0-140, 64-46, 67-60, 69-55, 66-0); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 5-2 (40-63, 62-48, 83-35, 0-128, 106-4, 66-57, 64-10); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Rashid Aziz (Punjab) 5-2 (75-30, 1-60, 69-19, 80-18, 24-108, 64-12, 72-27); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 5-1 (82-0, 56-18, 54-73, 74-8, 129-0, 78-69); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Haris Tahir (Punjab) 5-3 (87-0, 62-45, 100-13, 78-45, 27-75, 38-75, 11-102, 73-42); Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 5-2 (30-63, 94-30, 97-26, 71-8, 67-18, 21-70, 74-6); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 5-3 (64-57, 111-0, 44-58, 1-64, 1-69, 66-55, 74-47, 70-48; Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 5-2 (74-27, 67-7, 64-1, 35-57, 0-62, 101-31, 67-42).

Thursday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Quarter-finals (best of nine frames):

Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) vs Mohammad Asif (Punjab); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) vs Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) vs Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) vs Mubashir Raza (Punjab)

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2019