KARACHI: Pakistan’s top cueist Imran Shahzad and defending champion Shahid Aftab were among the four seeded cueists who were knocked out from the race in the 37th national snooker championship which entered its quarter-final stage at Karachi Gymkhana on Monday.
The other two who met their fate include seventh seed Mohammad Asif Toba and eighth seed Asjad Iqbal, both from Punjab.
The four outsiders who were through to the last eight were Sohail Shehzad, Sultan Mohammad, Naveen Perwani and qualifier Vishan Gir.
Imran, who finished runner-up in group “A” behind Vishan Gir, suffered 1-5 defeat at the hands of two-time former national champion Mohammad Sajjad in pre quarters. The former Asian No 2 had a firm grip on the match and won 58-48, 22-57, 79-35, 117-0, 88-7, 67-43.
Sajjad is drawn to meet Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Sharjeel Mehmood who routed Punjab’s Mohammad Afzal by the identical scoreline of 5-1 (65-56, 64-39, 21-68, 73-5, 64-31, 58-26).
In a clash of veteran’s, former international Naveen Perwani handed a 5-1 defeat to former Pakistan No 1 Khurram Agha the scores being 117-1, 39-65, 58-44, 70-0, 62-25, 84-43.
Naveen, who is trailing in the national rankings at 13th position, stole the limelight by piling a century break (117) - highest of the event so far — in the first frame. He could have made a clearance of 130 had he not missed the pink ball. Earlier, he topped group “D”.
He is slated to meet Vishan, who overcame a stiff resistance from Abu Saim while defeating him 5-4. The scores were: 13-86, 71-14, 67-55, 50-46, 34-92, 7-72, 17-76, 66-18, 64-16.
Results:
Pre quarter-finals: Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Imran (Punjab) 5-2 (69-63, 81-40, 30-61, 2-55, 57-21, 76-0, 67-17); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) 5-1 (117-1, 39-65, 58-44, 70-0, 62-25, 84-43); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 5-4 (74-17, 16-67, 9-63, 72-36, 33-58, 66-64, 43-54, 54-43, 60-10); Vishan Gir (Sindh) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 5-4 (13-86, 71-14, 67-55, 50-46, 34-92, 7-72, 17-76, 66-18, 64-16); Sharjeel Mehmood (KP) bt Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) 5-1 (65-56, 64-39, 21-68, 73-5, 64-31, 58-26); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 5-1 (60-44, 63-51, 60-41, 67-0, 3-42, 67-17); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Imran Shahzad (Punjab) 5-1 (58-48, 22-57, 79-35, 117-0, 88-7, 67-43); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Shah Khan (KP) 5-2 (91-4, 9-85, 80-30, 109-15, 91-10, 59-99, 109-12) . Sunday’s results: Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-1 (61-57, 80-1, 72-31, 16-60, 107-0); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Imran (Punjab) 4-3 (37-76, 41-37, 6-51, 51-69, 76-56, 70-56, 110-31); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Mohammad Javed (Punjab) 4-2 (49-59, 66-64, 40-84, 83-37, 66-22, 64-60); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-1 (65-9, 55-65, 68-20, 68-36, 65-36); Sharjeel Mehmood (KP) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) 4-0 (69-30, 61-36, 68-42, 57-9); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-2 (71-29, 52-36, 64-38, 25-79, 14-52, 69-51); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Bilawal Agha (Sindh) 4-3 (2-66, 26-85, 57-8, 51-47, 62-52, 42-62, 62-61); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-1 (67-34, 43-59, 72-34, 67-66, 73-63). Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) 4-2 (36-57, 8-62, 69-17, 81-7, 69-45, 52-1); Shah Khan (KP) bt Naeem Jaffer (Balochistan) 4-1 (77-44, 87-39, 92-68, 35-50, 63-19); Farhan Khan (KP) bt Abdul Rauf Kurd (Balochistan) 4-2 (65-5, 31-63, 25-80, 65-40, 53-47, 63-45); Farrukh Usman Brohi (Sindh) bt Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab) 4-2 (26-57, 38-64, 62-55, 55-8, 57-12, 64-35); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) 4-3 (79-20, 53-39, 52-61, 33-63, 8-46, 60-21, 83-20); Rambel Gul (KP) bt Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) 4-1 (76-12, 68-15, 41-62, 70-56, 70-29); Zahoor Ahmed (Balochistan) bt Yasir Shehzad (KP) 4-1(41-57, 64-38, 63-58, 62-53, 42-28); Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) bt Javed Ansari (Sindh) 4-1 (61-53, 57-54, 64-56, 36-72, 67-49). Tuesday’s fixtures: Quarter-finals: Sohail Shehzad v Mohammad Asif, Sharjeel Mehmood v Mohammad Sajjad, Sultan Mohammad v Abdul Sattar, Naveen Perwani v Vishan Gir at 11am.
