DUBAI, May 5: Pakistan’s national champion Mohammad Sajjad Rana pulled off a major shock on Sunday evening when he overpowered fourth-seed Passakorn Suwannawat of Thailand 5-2 in the 24th Asian Snooker Championship at the Dubai Police Officers Club Hall here on Monday.

The 24-year-old Sajjad was at the brink of ouster from the championship after losing his second round match to UAE’s Eissa Al Sayed.

He, however, made an incredible recovery from 0-2 down to defeat Suwannawat, the runner-up of last year’s world championship.

With his second defeat, Suwannawat was facing expulsion from the championship.

Second-seed Khurram Agha after suffering a surprise defeat against Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nadir Sultani bounced back with a 4-1 victory over Mohammad Al Tarkait of Kuwait.

Top-seed India’s Yasin Merchant, after winning two matches, suffered an astonishing 2-4 defeat at the hands of Abdulla Al Okaily of Jordan which included a break of 90 in the fifth frame by the winner.

Yasin, however, returned to winning ways by thrashing Nguyen Nhat Thanh of Vietnam 4-0.

Results:

Khurram Agha (Pakistan) bt Mohammad Al Tarkait (Kuwait) 69-13, 86-22, 56-22, 54-62, 85-27; Lim Chun Kiat (Singapore) bt Khaled Al Damen (Jordan) 68-06, 75-12, 57-11, 66-23; Yasin Merchant (India) bt Nguyen Nhat Thanh (Vietnam) 77-16, 77-18, 90-0, 71-30; Au Chi Wai (Hong Kong) bt Omar Al Kojah (Syria) 89-44, 127-0, 79-08, 67-09; Renat William Denkh (Iraq) bt Moh Keen Ho (Malaysia) 21-78, 38-71, 60-03, 68-35, 12-80, 69-45, 54-14; Lee Po-Hsien (Taiwan) bt Ahmed Abdul Qadar (UAE) 65-56, 72-22, 59-54, 63-34; Mohammad Sajjad (Pakistan) bt Passakorn Suwannawat (Thailand) 76-25, 82-01, 43-55, 63-60, 24-64, 78-0, 67-59; Noppadol Sangnil (Thailand) bt Ayhab Hasan Nissui (Iraq) 28-67, 63-09, 82-28, 75-01, 96-0; Abdulla Al Okaily (Jordan) bt Yasin Merchant (India) 46-17, 35-35, 64-38, 04-75, 90-54, 69-63; Hisham Al-Saqar (Bahrain) bt Lin Su Hung (Taiwan) 66-46, 54-19, 63-24, 72-22; Susantha Botjeu (Sri Lanka) bt Lim Chun Kiat (Singapore) 68-27, 06-78, 70-28, 65-59, 62-45, 69-51; Jin Long (China) bt Mohsen Aziz (Qatar) 09-84, 68-48, 13-64, 69-15, 71-22, 70-64, 61-25; Zhang Anda (China) bt Omar Ali Alajiani (Saudi Arabia) 62-19, 57-40, 77-35, 43-68, 71-20.—APP