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KARACHI: Three Pakistani cueists were among eight who earned distinction by crossing first hurdle and making it to the knockout quarter-finals in the Jubilee Insurance seven-nation international snooker championship at Pearl Continental Hotel on Tuesday.
The three home players who were through include former Asian No 2 Mohammad Sajjad, Pakistan No 1 Mohammad Asif and Abdul Sattar.They were followed by the two Thais — Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Noppon Saengkham — an Iranian, who is also reigning world champion, Hossein Vafaei Ayouri, an Indian Yasin Merchant and an Egyptian Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed.
Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and UAE’s Mohammad Mustafa Shehab shared days’ honours by registering splendid breaks of 129 apiece surpassing the previous best of 126 piled by Mohammad Asif the other day.
Hossein rounded off his engagements by staying unbeaten to top group A.
He thrashed Naveen Perwani 4-0 and then brushed aside Noppon Saengkham 4-2 in the two fixtures on the concluding day of the league.
The latter finished runner-up in the group.
Thailand No 1 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh emerged group B champion with a clean slate.
He gave a 4-1 drubbing to Sajjad in the morning which included a break of 129, and then defeated Bahrain’s Habib Subah by the identical score. He was followed by Sajjad.
UAE’s Mohammad Al Joaker overcame Yasin Merchant 4-2 in the last match to attain top position in group C. Yasin had to content with second slot.
The pool D was monopolised by Pakistani cueists with Mohammad Asif and Abdul Sattar staying ion contention for the crown.
The best of nine frames quarter-finals will be played in two sessions on Wednesday.
Results: Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Iran) bt Naveen Perwani (Pak) 4-0 (73-59, 69-24, 96-0, 107-37); Thepchaiya Un-nooh (Thailand) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Pak) 4-1 (78-31, 72-19, 92-26, 15-66, 131-12); Yasin Merchant (India) bt Sultan Mohammad (Pak) 4-3 (68-60, 21-53, 72-43, 1-96, 84-17, 0-103, 74-30); Mohammad Asif (Pak) bt Abdul Sattar (Pak) 4-0 (58-36, 126-8, 93-38, 103-20); Sharjeel Mehmood (Pak) bt Hussain Mahmood Ali (Bahrain) 4-0 (63-42, 70-17, conceded the match); Mohammad Faisal Khan (India) bt Vishan Gir (Pak) 4-1 (95-30, 78-43, 32-78, 87-23, 90-29); Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed (Egypt) bt Sohail Shehzad (Pak) 4-3 (26-71, 14-75, 56-39, 30-57, 49-17, 62-33, 67-7); Mohammed Mustafa Shehab (UAE) bt Yaser Ahmed M. Elsherbiny (Egypt) 4-3 (first frame awarded, 83-8, 60-73, 12-47, 80-26, 2-74, 113-16); Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Iran) bt Noppon Saengkham (Thailand) 4-2 (83-8, 32-74, 108-22, 88-30, 7-103, 67-40); Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) bt Habib Subah (Bahrain) 4-1 (65-12, 52-17, 32-83, 52-6, 69-54); Mohammed Al Joaker (UAE) bt Yasin Merchant (India) 4-2 (84-50, 53-65, 71-30, 64-37, 13-67, 75-14); Abdul Sattar (Pakistan) bt Saeed Abooyesani (Iran) 4-1 (60-9, 17-64, 88-24, 111-14, 55-8); Naveen Perwani (Pak) bt Hussain Mahmood (Bahrain) walkover; Mohammad Sajjad (Pak) bt Vishan Gir (India) 4-0 (88-52, 92-39, 133-1, 72-12); Sultan Mohammad (Pak) bt Sohail Shehzad (Pak) 4-0 (101-0, 65-16, 85-25, 50-5); Mohammad Asif (Pak) bt Mohammad Mustafa Shehab (UAE) 4-3 (0-130, 68-32, 39-84, 61-37, 76-50, 7-99, 67-29).
Wednesday’s fixtures: Quarter-finals: Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Iran) v Abdul Sattar (Pakistan); Mohammad Asif (Pakistan) v Yasin Merchant (India) at 11am; Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed (Egypt) v Mohammad Sajjad (Pakistan); Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand) v Noppon Saengkham (Thailand) at 3pm.
