KARACHI: Resurgence of senior players and ex-national champions Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sajjad and exit of third seed Zulfiqar A. Qadir were the main features of the 11th National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Ranking Snooker Championship which entered the last-four stage at bank’s sports complex on Thursday.

Former world champion Asif, whose national ranking has gone down to seventh, overcame stiff opposition before getting past Mohammad Shahbaz 5-4 with a century break of 124 coming in the decisive final frame.

Shahbaz fought gallantly and surged to a 3-2 lead before but a break of 125 by Asif in the last frame denied him success. In the process, Shahbaz piled up three breaks of 93, 96 and 83.

Asif won the nine0frame battle 71-25, 50-41, 32-94, 40-102, 11-63, 58-2, 58-32, 17-93, 125-3.

Similarly, Asif’s contemporary Sajjad downed Ahsan Ramzan in a nerve-tingling encounter by five frames to four.

The lead change hands until it was four-all before Sajjad rounded off the match by mustering a break of 103.

Sajjad won 37-64, 60-51, 54-69, 71-36, 16-85, 68-64, 47-79, 71-43, 103-20.

In another encounter, Mohammad Ahsan Javaid ousted third seed Zulfiqar 5-1 with a scoreline of 72-39, 52-10, 70-46, 37-81, 61-50, 79-33.

It is pertinent to mention that Asif became the last victim of quartet who shone in Doha recently. Bilal, Babar and Asjad all lost earlier.

Mubashir Raza faced little opposition while inflicting a 5-1 defeat on former junior world champion Mohammad Naseem Akhtar. He was home 63-46, 93-7, 41-62, 66-21, 74-4, 74-51.

Results:

Quarter-finals: Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) 5-4 (71-25, 50-41, 32-94, 40-102, 11-63, 58-2, 58-32, 17-93, 125-3); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) 5-1 (72-39, 52-10, 70-46, 37-81, 61-50, 79-33); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) 5-4 (37-64, 60-51, 54-69, 71-36, 16-85, 68-64, 47-79, 71-43, 103-20); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 5-1 (63-46, 93-7, 41-62, 66-21, 74-4, 74-51).

Friday’s fixtures:

Semi-finals (best of 11 frames): Mohammad Asif (Punjab) vs Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) vs Mubashir Raza (Punjab) at 10:00am.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2019