LAHORE: The second Under-17 Junior National Snooker Championship commenced here at the PSB Coaching Centre with an exhilarating opening day featuring notable victories.

Sindh’s representation shone as Mohammad Aaliyan, Mohammad Sahil and Mohammad Hasnain registered comfortable victories to move into the next round.

Aaliyan triumphed over Ghulam Mustafa of Islamabad 17-38, 59-13, 44-32, 62-17 while Sahil downed Punjab’s Aleem Owais 55-13, 12-59, 48-39, 57-12. Hasnain routed Mohammad Ali, representing Punjab, 66-18, 59-14, 44-23.

Cueists from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were also among the winners as Bilal outclassed Balochistan’s Qarar Hussain 55-12, 38-32, 59-07 and Mohammad Anis overpowered Punjab’s Zain-ul-Abdin 44-17, 45-22, 34-44, 55-01.

Zain later made amends for his loss after he romped past Sindh’s Mohammad Subhan Akbar 67-35, 59-24, 49-32.

In Wednesday’s other clash, Islamabad’s Mohammad Abu Bakar displayed a dominant performance, handing Subhan another loss, with a clean sweep of 48-12, 44-19, 51-18.

Ali Raza from Balochistan also claimied a 3-0 (32-26, 44-31, 59-13) victory against Azhar Hussain from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The championship concludes on Friday.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2024