KARACHI, June 12: Former and current Sindh champions Umair Alam and Mohammad Ishtiaq pulled off stunning upsets as the third Jubilee Insurance ranking snooker championship commenced at the Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday.

Playing in the first session, Umair, who is trailing at 32nd position in the ranking, caught the eye by getting the better of national champion and country’s top cueist Mohammad Asif in the fully stretched battle 4-3. He was home 81-19, 26-45, 14-108, 58-13, 67-56, 18-65, 72-14.

Though Asif came into the match surging 2-1 ahead after conceding the opener, but succumbed to the opponents’ pressure and gave up in the decisive frame.

Umair’s contemporary and Sindh champion Ishtiaq playing on the adjacent table showed his acumen routing former national champion and fourth seed Mohammad Sajjad by the identical scoreline of 4-3. Ishtiaq had a solid start and triumphed 56-44, 68-4, 16-60, 65-57, 56-80, 23-66, 50-36.

Another Sindh player and third seed Sultan Mohammad also stole the limelight hammering first century break (108) against Mohammad Bilal of Punjab, in the same session.

Sultan returned 108-18, 9-69, 56-37, 70-25, 61-22 victorious against his opponent.

Meanwhile, second seed Asjad Iqbal, who captured the NBP Cup last month, was stretched to limits before winning 4-3 against Sindh’s Jawed Ansari, a former Sindh champion.

Asjad won the battle 49-56, 70-7, 65-25, 51-13, 26-69, 26-82, 83-1.

Meanwhile, in a latest development, the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) has included Abdul Rauf Kurd and Zahoor Ahmed, both from Balochistan, to fill the vacuum created due to the absence of Farhan Khan and Shafiullah hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Results:

Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-3 (81-19, 26-45, 14-108, 58-13, 67-56, 18-65, 72-14); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Jawed Ansari (Sindh) 4-3 (49-56, 70-7, 65-25, 51-13, 26-69, 26-82, 83-1); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) 4-1 (108-18, 9-69, 56-37, 70-25, 61-22); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-3 (56-44, 68-4, 16-60, 65-57, 56-80, 23-66, 50-36); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid (Punjab) 4-1 (50-46, 47-56, 61-36, 73-21, 75-22); Vishan Gir (Sindh) bt Abdul Rauf Kurd (Balochistan) 4-2 (50-62, 68-26, 80-26, 73-46, 62-71, 63-29); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Mohammad Akmal (Sindh) 4-1 (38-64, 57-39, 55-25, 52-35, 53-31); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt Zahoor Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-2 (52-44, 45-40, 43-53, 69-38, 57-67, 74-8); Bilawal Agha (Sindh) bt Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab) 4-3 (53-24, 42-67, 57-16, 64-0, 35-59, 7-63, 78-56); Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-2 (58-9, 18-84, 72-46, 66-44, 0-86, 52-48); Mohammad Imran (Punjab) bt Shah Khan (KP) 4-0 (56-18, 57-19, 69-24, 45-52); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-2 (0-61, 57-54, 48-61, 64-51, 78-20, 59-33); Mohammad Jawed (Punjab) bt Farrukh Usman Brohi (Sindh) 4-0 (62-19, 52-9, 59-2, 64-40); Shehram Changezi (Islamabad) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) 4-1 (72-21, 94-26, 9-61, 83-27, 57-29); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-3 (56-67, 16-60, 48-13, 63-32, 75-6, 17-92, 78-37).

Wednesday’s fixtures:

Mohammad Majid bt Umair Alam, Vishan Gir bt Javed Ansari, Abdul Sattar bt Mohammad Bilal, Naveen Perwani bt Mohammad Ishtiaq at 10am; Mohammad Asif v Mohammad Asif Toba, Asjad Iqbal v Abdul Rauf Kurd, Sultan Mohammad v Mohammad Akmal, Mohammad Sajjad v Zahoor Ahmed at 12noon; Mohammad Jawed v Bilawal Agha, Shehram Changezi v Mohammad Afzal, Sohail Shehzad v Shah Khan, Sharjeel Mehmood v Farhan Noor at 2pm; Mohammad Nazeer v Farrukh Usman Brohi, Shahid Aftab v Mohammad Yousuf, Mohammad Imran v Imran Shehzad, Khurram Hussain Agha v Abu Saim at 4pm.