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KARACHI: Sharjeel Mehmood, the 10th seed from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, pulled off a major upset by getting the better of top seed and Pakistan No 1 Imran Shahzad of Punjab 4-3 in the gruelling match of the Del Monte fourth ranking snooker cup at the Southend Club on Wednesday.
Sharjeel, who could not go beyond quarter-final in the preceding ranking event, cruised to 3-1 lead when Imran fought back to drew level. However, the former won the decisive frame on black ball to register his maiden win over Imran. The scores were 87-41, 60-19, 15-114, 74-21, 4-81, 24-80, 63-56.
Despite losing the final, Imran earned some consolation by compiling a century break (103) — third of the event — in the third frame to equal the previous highest break of Shahid Aftab.
Earlier, second seed Mohammad Asif Toba was out of contention for the semi-final berth losing four group matches straight while two other seeded players — Sultan Mohammad and Sohail Shahzad — have bleak chances to advance.
Toba, who finished runner-up to top seed Imran Shahzad in the last ranking competition, failed to maintain form losing one match after the other out of possible seven in the group ‘B.’ Incidentally, he has been picked by the PBSA to represent the country in the world snooker championship being held at Bangalore later this month.
Similarly, third seed Sultan Mohammad and fourth seed Sohail Shahzad, both from Sindh, have lost three games apiece and won one each.
Sindh’s Abdul Sattar, the sixth seed, was also in hot waters losing three matches and winning one.
The dismal run of former national champion Naveen Perwani also continued as he tasted defeats in back-to-back matches on the second day to be out of the race. He had lost both his games on the opening day also.
Results: Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-2 (70-32, 72-58, 33-75, 40-60, 67-26, 61-53); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Umair Alam (Sindh) 4-2 (51-19, 66-20, 52-59, 86-21, 25-68, 76-18); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Bilawal Agha (Sindh) 4-1 (75-27, 19-63, 75-21, 79-9, 66-15); Mohammad Javed (Punjab) bt Naveen Perwani (Sindh) 4-2 (109-16, 43-90, 29-68, 84-36, 70-32, 65-52); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt M. Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-1 (64-59, 89-49, 58-50, 28-51, 74-5); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-2 (70-64, 54-61, 80-0, 55-28, 17-105, 94-31); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-2 (29-43, 8-76, 55-47, 64-26, 42-9, 57-10); Imran Shahzad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Imran (Punjab) 4-2 (13-70, 15-68, 94-28, 58-7, 61-28, 76-26); Mohammad Javed (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-3 (35-63, 49-69, 24-81, 86-36, 83-18, 84-43, 66-12); Bilawal Agha (Sindh) bt Naveen Perwani (Sindh) 4-2 (89-24, 73-31, 23-63, 34-77, 55-18, 38-1); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) 4-1 (65-20, 75-60, 61-53, 31-67, 70-27); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Umair Alam (Sindh) 4-1 (65-9, 23-55, 64-9, 70-59, 103-0); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Imran (Punjab) 4-1 (73-17, 40-57, 90-9, 85-18, 73-23); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-1 (50-68, 71-28, 62-2, 81-21, 68-34); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt M. Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-3 (38-80, 63-44, 66-69, 19-72, 65-21, 57-13, 67-18); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Imran Shahzad (Punjab) 4-3 (87-41, 60-19, 15-114, 74-21, 4-81, 24-80, 63-56).
Thursday’s fixtures: Matches starts at 10am.
