KARACHI: Unseeded former Sindh champion Agha Bilawal notched up his first win when he humbled eighth seed Ali Haider 4-1 in the 12th National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Ranking Snooker Championship at the bank’s sports complex on Wednesday.

Bilawal, who lost 1-4 to former NBP champion Mohammad Ijaz on Tuesday, made amends as he was home 53-62, 99-13, 78-30, 106-0, 68-0 in group H match. He also hogged limelight with a century break of 106 in the fourth frame.

With back-to-back defeats, Haider seems to be out of reckoning from last-16 race.

Meanwhile, the pair of sixth seed and promising Ahsan Ramzan sneaked into the last-16 from group F winning two matches apiece. It may be mentioned that Ahsan is the reigning national U-16 and U-18 champion.

Naseem Akhtar, the 2017 world U-18 snooker champion, bulldozed Sharjeel Mehmood 4-2 (60-46, 34-67, 124-0, 70-54, 23-73, 116-32). He also hammered a break of 115 in the last frame.

Fifth seed Babar Masih, meanwhile,brushed aside former Asian U-21 runner-up Mohammad Majid Ali 4-2 on Monday evening. The triumph includes blistering break of 128 in the fifth frame.

Results:

Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Ali Haider (Punjab) 4-1 (53-62, 99-13, 78-30, 106-0, 68-0), AhsanRamzan (Punjab) bt Saad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (82-21, 101-26, 37-60, 52-54, 66-8, 47-82, 82-59), Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-2 (78-41, 67-52, 48-81, 36-85, 128-0, 86-17), Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (60-46, 34-67, 124-0, 70-54, 23-73, 116-32), Mohammad Umer Khan (Punjab) bt Rana Irfan (Punjab) 4-3 (44-78, 75-19, 65-4, 69-19, 42-68, 38-64, 76-56), HarisTahir (Punjab) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (79-64, 64-32, 42-72, 65-17, 38-45, 64-28),,Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Saad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (91-8, 69-32, 68-7, 73-59), Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Zubair Tahir (Punjab) 4-0 (68-16, 111-0, 81-1, 64-0), Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Ali Hamza (Sindh) 4-1 (67-28, 48-78, 50-44, 72-36, 57-9), Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-2 (78-39, 67-23, 1-73, 33-55, 66-36, 71-32), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab) 4-1 (26-59, 88-29, 55-43, 72-53, 59-31), Mohammad Umer Khan (Punjab) bt Hamz Akbar (Punjab) 4-1 (65-33, 8-66, 73-17, 82-16, 66-44), Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Rana Irfan (Punjab) 4-2 (41-62, 86-41, 116-1, 13-82, 62-6, 61-49), HarisTahir (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-1 (52-30, 77-16, 33-62, 73-0, 69-59).

Published in Dawn, October 1st , 2020