KARACHI, Nov 28: Vishan Gir, the former Pakistan No 2, staged a remarkable comeback when he toppled two members of the national team that featured in the just-ended Guangzhou Asian Games at the Latif Masters snooker tournament at the Karachi Club billiards hall here on Sunday.

First he chalked up a fine 4-1 victory over Sohail Shahzad (36-70, 72-41, 58-38, 78-33, 74-70) and then played with the same vigour to stun Asian No 2 Mohammad Sajjad by identical scoreline 4-1 (71-12, 75-30, 37-62, 67-52, 79-25).

Vishan, who finished runner-up to Naveen Perwani in the national championship three years ago, had won his opener 4-1 against Qasim Kamani besides getting a walkover against Sultan Mohammad on Saturday.

Sixteen players — nine from KC, six ranking players and a wildcard (Khurram Agha) are taking part in the contest which is organised by the Karachi Club, its billiards secretary Naveen Perwani told Dawn.

The players have been equally drawn in two groups. The semi-finals are drawn for Tuesday while the final is fixed for Wednesday.

According to Naveen, the status of the tournament is not national ranking.

The event which has been revived after a layoff, carries total prize money of Rs40,000. The winner gets Rs18,000 while the runner-up takes home Rs10,000.

Results: Played on Sunday:

Vishin Gir bt Sohail Shahzad 4-1 (36-70, 72-41, 58-38, 78-33, 74-70); Mohammad Sajjad bt Naveen Perwani 4-3 (71-28, 77-7, 0-72, 67-40, 23-72, 57-65, 73-28); Qasim Kamani bt Farhan Idrees 4-0 (71-43, 69-4, 80-0, 70-27); Abdul Basit bt Sultan Mohammad – walkover; Imran Shahzad bt Azeem Yousuf 4-2 (54-34, 59-76, 73-31, 45-61, 53-46, 73-39); Abdul Sattar bt Asim Ghani 4-2 (79-24, 75-26, 85-6, 59-68, 50-58, 59-11); Umair Alam bt Kamran Suriya 4-1 (36-57, 58-38, 72-6, 88-8, 63-22); Khurram Agha bt Baqar Kamani 4-0 (69-43, 68-38, 76-24, 63-18); Sohail Shahzad bt Naveen Perwani 4-2 (82-52, 17-90, 10-73, 63-23, 72-27, 61-34); Vishin Gir bt Mohammad Sajjad 4-1 (71-12, 75-30, 37-62, 67-52, 79-25); Qasim Kamani bt Abdul Basit 4-1 (First frame awarded to Qasim, 55-70, 76-11, 60-29, 75-17); Farhan Idrees bt Sultan Mohammad – walkover.

Played on Saturday:

Imran Shahzad bt Kamran Suriya 4-0 (46-9, 77-1, 67-13, 70-16); Abdul Sattar bt Baqar Kamani 4-2 (46-56, 70-11, 71-58, 61-17, 51-66, 63-43); Umair Alam bt Azeem Yousuf 4-1 (87-2, 77-29, 48-41, 53-60, 67-30); Khurram Agha bt Asim Ghani 4-3 (13-79, 55-61, 84-7, 63-25, 19-67, 63-9, 73-38); Sohail Shahzad bt Farhan Idrees 4-0 (103-17, 88-21, 90-13, 71-34); Mohammad Sajjad bt Abdul Basit 4-1 (45-50, 82-29, 68-26, 66-23, 56-36); Vishan Gir bt Qasim Kamani 4-1 (72-40, 88-23, 52-5, 51-70, 67-28); Naveen Perwani bt Sultan Mohammad 4-0 (79-41, 56-24, 54-8, 49-1); Imran Shahzad bt Baqar Kamani 4-1 (74-40, 65-41, 1-104, 102-22, 72-28); Abdul Sattar bt Kamran Suriya 4-1 (71-19, 66-68, 59-21, 60-9, 88-19); Umair Alam bt Asim Ghani 4-2 (16-81, 52-26, 56-23, 83-37, 4-47, 85-13); Khurram Agha bt Azeem Yousuf 4-1 (81-0, 72-24, 83-4, 64-68, 110-0); Sohail Shahzad bt Abdul Basit 4-2 (80-10, 68-8, 58-44, 46-54, 48-64, 87-2); Mohammad Sajjad bt Farhan Idrees 4-1 (54-44, 54-20, 47-66, 68-32, 56-52); Naveen Perwani bt Qasim Kamani 4-0 (68-29, 64-56, 78-38, 62-26); Vishan Gir bt Sultan Mohammad – walkover.

Monday’s fixtures:

Matches begin at 10.00am.

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