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KARACHI: Former Pakistan No 2 Vishan Gir, who entered as a qualifier, created quite a stir when he blanked Pakistan No 1 Imran Shahzad straight in the group “A” opener of the 37th National snooker championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Wednesday.
The Karachi-based Vishan piled up two elegant breaks of 65 and 64 in the first and second frames while notching up 88-29, 68-15, 61-4, 67-34 victory over the most consistent player of the circuit.
Imran, the Guangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist in team event, attributed lack of practice at the venue and change of green top of the tables as the factor behind his stunning defeat.
In yet another upset, Mohammad Majid, the losing finalist of last month’s national junior under-21 championship, produced a sterling performance while routing seventh seed Mohammad Asif Toba 4-1 the scores being 60-28, 69-7, 63-41, 37-64, 72-39. Defending champion Shahid Aftab, the fourth seed, struggled to beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa qualifier Nauman Awan 4-3. Shahid won the nerve tingling battle 59-60, 80-7, 37-49, 74-9, 46-66, 71-16, 68-21.
Results: Vishan Gir (Sindh) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-0 (88-29, 68-15, 61-4, 67-34); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-3 (62-29, 70-46, 1-68, 23-98, 72-45, 54-66, 95-11); Sharjeel Mehmood (KP) bt Shafiullah (KP) 4-3 (first frame awarded to Sharjeel, 43-52, 32-63, 92-6, 29-108, 66-16, 43-19); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Nauman Awan (KP) 4-3 (59-60, 80-7, 37-49, 74-9, 46-66, 71-16, 68-21); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Ali Raza (Punjab) 4-0 (62-30, 52-8, 74-30, 46-38); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Mohammad Akmal (Sindh) 4-0 (88-20, 60-24, 53-36, 76-22); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Hunain Aamir (Punjab) 4-0 (70-1, 87-5, 78-26, 74-26); Mohammad Majid (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-1 (60-28, 69-7, 63-41, 37-64, 72-39); Bilawal Agha (Sindh) bt Yasir Shehzad (KP) 4-1 (59-46, 70-1, 73-25, 10-66, 50-32); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) 4-1 (86-29, 41-46, 65-30, 69-49, 62-29); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) 4-1 (61-20, 21-76, 76-28, 57-51, 66-20); Javed Ansari (Sindh) bt Naveen Perwani (Sindh) 4-2 (59-55, 61-39, 45-57, 17-61, 66-10, 83-14); Mohammad Imran (Punjab) bt Farhan Khan (KP) 4-1 (72-5, 53-30, 69-9, 57-63, 63-21); Mohammad Javed (Punjab) bt Mohammad Naeem Jaffer (Balochistan) 4-1 (39-75, 53-37, 84-1, 74-28, 82-28); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-0 (56-39, 65-9, 76-41, 58-32); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Farrukh Usman Brohi (Sindh) 4-1 (23-62, 82-4, 62-50, 99-8, 106-70).
Thursday’s fixtures: Matches start at 10am.
