Last-16 line-up completed at National Snooker
KARACHI: The pre-quarterfinals line-up of the National Snooker Championship was completed on Tuesday, following the conclusion of the league phase here at the NBP Sports Complex.
Defending champion Asjad Iqbal, Sharjeel Mahmood, Zulfiqar A. Qadir, Mubashir Raza and Abdul Sattar secured the last five spots in the last-16.
Asjad, who suffered a surprise loss to Ian Mark John on Sunday, rebounded with a 4-2 [73-07, 78-19, 47-60, 63-36, 57-65, 94(71)-16] win over Faisal Daniyal.
The 31-year-old Asjad took the first two frames, but Faisal clawed one back. Asjad restored his two-frame advantage in the fourth frame, before Faisal narrowed the gap again. However, Asjad sealed the win with a commanding break of 71 in the final frame.
Sharjeel of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stunned sixth seed Islamabad’s Shan Namat 4-2 [69-43, 67-53, 62-38, 57-70, 33-62, 72-12] to confirm his berth in the pre-quarters.
Sharjeel dominated the early stages, clinching the first three frames to gain a decisive advantage. Although Shan won two consecutive frames to stay in contention, Sharjeel ended his campaign in the sixth frame.
Zulfiqar A. Qadir and Mubashir Raza also advanced to the pre-quarterfinals, despite losing their matches on Tuesday.
Zulfiqar lost 4-2 [12-86(81), 78-36, 40-54, 55-50, 59-4, 12-66, 98(98)-36] to Shahid Aftab, who had already secured his spot in the last-16. Meanwhile, Ahsan Ramzan edged past Mubashir 4-3 [80(52)-16, 90(90)-0, 9-61, 128(113)-0), 32-75, 57-70, 130(130)-0].
Zulfiqar started strongly, making a break of 81 in the first frame, but Shahid equalised immediately. Zulfiqar regained the lead in the third frame, but Shahid rallied to secure the next three frames and victory.
Ahsan, the 2021 World Amateur Champion, seemed to regain his form, but it was too little, too late, as he was already out of contention.
Despite this, Ahsan finished the tournament strongly, stitching together two century-break of 113 and 130 in the third and fifth frames, respectively.
In other matches on Tuesday, Awaisullah Munir, Mohammed Naseem Akhtar, Sohail Shehzad and Abdul Javed registered victories.
The pre-quarterfinals will comprise of best-of-nine frames and commence on Wednesday.
Last-16 fixtures: Awaisullah Munair vs Sharjeel Mehmood, Adil A. Jabbar vs. Abdul Sattar, Muhammad Sajjad vs. Asjad Iqbal, Zulfiqar A. Qadir vs Mohammed Naseem Akhtar, Shahid Aftab vs. Waseem Abbas, Muhammad Shabaz vs. Sohail Shehzad, Ian Mark John vs. Babar Masih, Mubashir Raza vs Mohammad Asif.
Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2025
