Hasnain shines as National Snooker begins
0
KARACHI: Junior Asian Under-21 Snooker Champion Mohammad Hasnain pulled off a stunning 4-2 upset against fifth seed Abdul Javed on the opening day of the 49th National Snooker Championship here at the NBP Sports Club on Tuesday.
Hasnain, representing Sindh, edged past Javed from Islamabad with a thrilling 54-67, 68-23, 10-83, 81-12, 68-30, 79(54)-16 scoreline.
Punjab’s Awaisullah Munir — who won the Asian 6-red Snooker Championship in 2024 — made a strong start to his campaign, firing a century break of 103 to thrash Mohammad Muzammil from Islamabad 59-19, 65-40, 54-41, 103-0.
Defending champion Asjad Iqbal of Punjab was also in dominant form, cruising past Balochistan’s Jahanzaib Jahangir 79-32, 67-02, 112(56,52)-0, 64-1(64).
A one-sided contest ensued between Punjab’s Naseem Akhtar and Ayyan Ali from Sindh, with Naseem securing a 42-25, 71-15, 66-14, 56-29 victory.
Sindh’s Sohail Shahzad, meanwhile, rallied to outplay Malik Muzammil from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4-2, taking frames 103(85)-15, 79(59)-18, 99(99)-25, 72-47.
M. Shahbaz proved too strong for Bahadur Khan from Balochistan, winning 4-1. Sharjeel Mahmood registered a narrow 4-2 triumph over Ali Raza, while Zulfiqar A. Qadir overpowered Shahid Saleem 4-2.
In other matches, Mubashir Raza defeated Ibrahim Khan 4-2, Abdullah thrashed Faisal Daniyal 4-0 and Umair Alam crushed Sarbland Khan 4-1. Khizr Aziz and M. Nazir from Punjab also advanced, defeating Asadullah 4-0 and Ali Dara 4-2, respectively.
The championship will run until Feb 1 and features a total of 48 players from across the country, divided into eight groups. The top two players from each group will qualify for the pre-quarter finals.
The winner of the championship will receive a prize of Rs200,000, while the runner-up will receive Rs100,000. Semi-finalists will receive Rs50,000 each, quarter-finalists Rs25,000 each and the player achieving the highest break will receive Rs25,000.
Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2025
