KARACHI: Shafiullah, a qualifier from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, notched up his first victory while halting winning streak of Pakistan No 2 Asjad Iqbal on the third day of 38th National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday.

Shafiullah, who lost his group ‘B’ opener to Punjab qualifier Amir Rasheed on Monday, carved out a magnificent 61-60, 1-70, 63-43, 50-10, 7-88, 79-5 victory over seasoned Iqbal who claimed two national ranking titles in the preceding year. The latter had two wins and a defeat from three outings.

Playing on the adjacent table, Hamza Akbar, losing finalist of national junior snooker championship in 2009, put up a resolute performance to stun fourth seed Sohail Shehzad 4-1 in group ‘D’ fixture. He was home 18-50, 91-24, 62-21, 73-7, 81-31.

In yet another upset, former national champion and international Naveen Perwani sent eight seed Sharjeel Mehmood packing 4-1 to register second successive victory. The former won 0-1, 77-26, 68-51, 78-47, 69-44.

Meanwhile, it is quite strange that all the top eight cueists have lost at least one match.

Results:

Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) bt Babar Masih (Punjab) 4-2 (72-38, 70-27, 57-64, 51-64, 70-8, 73-6; Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Amir Rasheed (Punjab) 4-1 (60-44, 59-45, 61-71, 70-19, 59-51); Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (64-19, 68-54, 62-15, 84-36); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Qamar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (58-6, 98-12, 59-58, 61-36); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Mohammad Javed Ansari (Sindh) 4-3 (12-66, 58-43, 58-49, 37-66, 28-63, 66-38, 69-8); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) 4-0 (67-11, 60-12, 64-42, 50-46); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Vishan Gir (Sindh) 4-1 (69-15, 73-12, 50-34, 31-73, 58-54); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Mohsin Amin (Punjab) 4-3 (64-32, 87-30, 38-50, 40-71, 9-65, 63-35, 62-37); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Saqib Bahsir (Balochistan) 4-0 (85-1, 68-15, 71-44, 61-22); Shafiullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-2 (61-60, 1-70, 63-43, 50-10, 7-88, 79-5); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Abdul Majid (Sindh) 4-2 (47-65, 47-67, 77-73, 70-34, 52-38, 56-48); Hamza Akber (Punjab) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-1 (18-50, 91-24, 62-21, 73-7, 81-31); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (0-1 first frame awarded to Sharjeel, 77-26, 68-51, 78-47, 69-44).

Wednesday’s fixture:

Rambel Gul v Mohammad Javed Ansari, Abdul Rehman v Mohammad Bilal, Khizar Aziz v Amir Tariq, Farhan Noor v Mohsin Amin at 10am; Amir Shahzad v Mohammad Ishtiaq, Najeebullah Khan v Amir Rasheed, Imran Shehzad v Aakash Rafique, Mohammad Uzair Aziz v Qamar Zaman at 12noon; Mohammad Majid Ali v Bahadur Khan, Abdul Sattar v Ayaz Khan, Vishan Gir v Shah Khan, Khurram Agha v Naveen Perwani at 2pm; Babar Masih v Saqib Bashir, Abu Saim v Shafiullah, Mohammad Yousuf v Abdul Majid, Umair Alam v Hamza Akbar at 4pm.