KARACHI: Seeded cueists are being stretched to limits by low-profile players which is testimony of lack of hard work as day three league matches ended in the 45th National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday.

Defending champion and second seed Mohammad Bilal survived scare before winning the decisive frame against Aakash Rafique in fully extended encounter. He won the duel 46-34, 97-0, 37-64, 32-67, 54-14, 27-67, 68-57.

It is pertinent to mention that Bilal had survived a scare against Shariq Ali on the opening day also before returning home 4-3.

Similarly, seventh seed Babar Masih and eight seed Mohammad Naseem Akhtar fought tooth and nail before winning matches against their respective opponents on Tuesday. While the former rallied to get the better of promising Mohammad Majid Ali 4-3 (69-34, 92-34, 90-1, 49-69, 58-68, 23-50, 97-4) the latter overcome to beat Aamir Shahzad in same fashion (54-14, 45-63, 11-62, 68-33, 76-28, 32-65, 86-6).

Meanwhile, former Asian U-21 runner-up Majid piled up a splendid break of 128 against Ibrahim Khan on Monday evening to take the overall century breaks tally to four, all compiled on second day.

Results:

Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab/NBP) bt Aamir Shahzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (54-14, 45-63, 11-62, 68-33, 76-28, 32-65, 86-6); Rana Irfan (Punjab) bt Mohammad Yaqoob (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (walkover); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Abdul Ghafoor (Balochistan) 4-0 (80-0, 79-9, 61-46, 78-46); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab/NBP) 4-3 (69-34, 92-34, 90-1, 49-69, 58-68, 23-50, 97-4); Khizar Aziz (Sindh) bt Mohammad Ali (Sindh) 4-3 (72-22, 26-59, 42-78, 27-80, 57-17, 83-19, 69-58); Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) bt Ibrahim Khan (Balochistan) 4-3 (23-75, 61-72, 57-52, 27-71, 68-41, 63-42, 59-19); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Ali Raza (Sindh) 4-2 (56-36, 64-47, 36-66, 62-42, 50-77, 70-25); Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Obaid Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (63-18, 51-18, 73-29, 55-16); Mohammad Ajmal (Punjab) bt Usman Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (50-17, 57-7, 70-56, 39-71, 45-18); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (61-13, 58-45, 70-23, 70-10); Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab/SBP) bt Zubair Tahir (Punjab) 4-0 (51-43, 68-53, 62-49, 46-11); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Ali Hamza (Sindh) 4-1 (75-30, 66-31, 74-14, 62-71, 77-27); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab/NBP) bt A. Sattar Khan (Islamabad 4-0 (79-9, 61-28, 59-43, 93-0); Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (63-56, 63-55, 72-15, 50-40); Hamza Akbar (Punjab) bt S. Meesam Zaidi (Sindh) 4-0 (85-0, 82-4, 55-24, 69-4); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab/NBP) bt Ali Haider (Punjab/SBP) 4-0 (91-14, 61-0, 57-10, 87-24); Shan Naimat (Islamabad) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-2 (37-48, 73-12, 74-1, 77-17, 15-88, 60-2); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) 4-2 (10-59, 60-13, 61-0, 71-26(62), 1-67, 56-54); Munawar Khaliq (Islamabad) bt Shariq Ali (Sindh) 4-1 (43-72, 62-32, 55-47, 64-35, 46-37); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Rabish Pervez (Balochistan) 4-0 (80-7, 66-28, 67-8, 72-0); Mohammad Asif (Punjab/NBP) bt M. Jawed Ansari (Sindh) 4-2 (27-53, 66-27, 40-76, 66-49, 71-28, 70-34); Ameer Hamza Khan (Islamabad) bt Saqib Bashir (Balochistan) 4-1 (72-35, 64-25, 1-0, 30-79, 51-26); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab/SBP) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (46-34, 97-0, 37-64, 32-67, 54-14, 27-67, 68-57). Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab) 4-3 (37-47, 53-60, 59-57, 70-18, 23-93, 61-59, 65-14).

Monday’s remaining results: Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab/NBP) bt Ibrahim Khan (Balochistan) 4-2 (128-0, 66-42, 35-75, 42-57, 69-47, 57-19); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Aamir Shahzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (63-24, 85-32, 6-101, 49-58, 78-9, 67-25).

Wednesday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Mohammad Bilal vs Rabish Pervez; Saad Khan vs Monawar Khaliq; Mohammad Ahsan Javaid vs Shariq Ali, Mohammad Asif vs Ameer Hamza Khan; Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir vs Rambel Gul; Saqib Bashir vs Mohammad Nazeer.

At 12noon: Mohammad Sajjad vs Hamza Akbar; Umer Farooq vs Bahadur Khan; S. Meesam Zaidi (Sindh) vs Mohammad Imran; Asjad Iqbal vs Sharjeel Mehmood; Mohammad Umar Khan vs Shan Naimat; Mohammad Rizwan Hashmi vs Mohammad Asif Toba.

At 2pm: Mohammad Ijaz vs Mohammad Ajmal; Abdul Sattar vs Mohammad Saleem; Usman Ahmed vs Obaid Khan; Sohail Shahzad vs Ali Hamza; HarisTahir vs Zubair Tahir; Shahid Aftab vs Ahsan Ramzan.

At 4pm: Mohammad Naseem Akhtar vs Agha Bilawal; Mubashir Raza vs Rana Irfan; Abdul Ghafoor vs Mohammad Yaqoob; Babar Masih vs Ibrahim Khan; Zulfiqar A. Qadir vs Khizar Aziz; Ahmed Shah vs Mohammad Ali.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2020