KARACHI: Four seeded players fell prey to low-profile cueists on the second day of the league-stage matches in the NBP 46th National Snooker Championship at the bank’s sports complex on Saturday.

Former national champion and second seed Mohammad Sajjad’s decline continued as he suffered a 4-2 defeat to Punjab’s Saifullah in their group ‘B’ match. The Sargodha-based Sajjad, who had a dismal start to the championship on the opening day when he lost to wild card Hamza Akbar, failed to make amends as Saifullah recorded a 71-62, 89-34, 49-76, 75-49, 27-65, 54-35 victory.

Fifth seed Ahsan Javed also tasted second successive loss when he went down against qualifier Umer Naeem of Sindh in a fully stretched battle in which the latter thwarted pressure to post an exciting 26-66, 64-27, 65-18, 55-43, 22-61, 16-97, 60-24 win.

Balochistan’s Bahadur Khan and Aamir Shahzad of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa registered upset victory against sixth seed Mubashir Raza and seventh seed Mohammad Naseem Akhtar, respectively.

While Bahadur simply routed Mubashir 4-1 (73-72, 84-0, 61-35, 36-62, 58-40), Aamir struggled to overcome former junior world champion Naseem 4-3 (61-48, 57-37, 71-18, 50-54, 25-63, 1-61, 65-55).

Other seeded campaigners including defending champion Mohammad Asif, third seed Shahid Aftab and Mohammad Bilal continued their winning sequence.

Asif outplayed Rambel Gul 101-4, 69-2, 57-8, 76-50 while Shahid defeated Aftab Baig by an identical scoreline of 4-0 (71-24, 121-0, 81-10, 74-2).

Bilal conceded two frames while notching a 4-2 victory over Nadeem Gul 67-17, 1-88, 63-35, 52-65, 90-9, 70-41.

Punjab qualifier Owaisullah scored the only century break (103) of the day while getting the better of Abdul Qadir Ashir of Balochistan 4-0 (118-9, 63-15, 60-46, 97-16).

Results:

Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Jawed Ansari (Sindh) 4-2 (39-84, 20-71, 84-29, 67-39, 65-7, 64-45); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Yaqoob Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

4-0 (75-15, 82-2, 90-8, 83-7); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Tanzeel Hussain (Balochistan) 4-1 (57-34, 54-25, 134-5, 47-73, 81-21); Aamir Shahzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-3 (61-48, 57-37, 71-18, 50-54, 25-63, 1-61, 65-55); Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Ibrahim Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (87-29, 52-49, 66-19, 74-38); Faizan Ahmed (Sindh) bt Sattar Khan (Islamabad) 4-3 (63-22, 34-63, 59-15, 65-12, 0-95, 48-79, 70-34); Saifullah (Punjab) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-2 (71-62, 89-34, 49-76, 75-49, 27-65, 54-35); Hamza Akbar (Punjab) bt Zubair Tahir (Punjab) 4-3 (40-84, 45-71, 29-80, 62-24, 84-21, 62-47, 62-41); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Iftekhar (Sindh) 4-0 (89-8, 65-37, 76-0, 58-48); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (101-4, 69-2, 57-8, 76-50); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Mohammad Shahzad (Punjab) 4-2 (18-64, 84-16, 24-51, 90-42, 69-45, 101-9); Owaisullah (Punjab) bt Abdul Qadir Ashir (Balochistan) 4-0 (118-9, 63-15, 60-46, 97-16); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Nadeem Gul (Punjab) 4-2 (67-17, 1-88, 63-35, 52-65, 90-9, 70-41); Ahmad Shah (Balochistan) bt Sheikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) 4-2 (24-62, 62-25, 59-20, 53-76, 73-15, 64-17); Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) walkover Ali Hamza (Sindh); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Aftab Baig (Balochistan) 4-0 (71-24, 121-0, 81-10, 74-2); Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Hammad Hassan Shaikh (Punjab) 4-0 (95-1, 74-46, 66-46, 59-12); Waqar Ahmed (Islamabad) bt Farrukh Usman (Sindh) 4-2 (98-0, 35-71, 78-22, 73-32, 54-59, 53-50); Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) bt Mubashir Raza (Punjab) 4-1 (73-72, 84-0, 61-35, 36-62, 58-40); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Taufiq Johri (Sindh) 4-1 (62-32, 58-48, 69-15, 17-90, 60-9); Umair Haider (Punjab) bt Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) 4-0 (89-21, 73-25, 83-21, 74-38); Umer Naeem (Sindh) bt Mohammad Ahsan Javed (Punjab) 4-3 (26-66, 64-27, 65-18, 55-43, 22-61, 16-97, 60-24); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (70-0, 51-64, 70-25, 21-79, 86-0, 79-13); Mohammad Imran Qamar (Punjab) bt Sheikh Mohammad Muzammil (Punjab) 4-1 (49-65, 61-20, 118-0, 54-14, 60-29).

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2021