KARACHI: At least four unseeded players who have maintained a clean slate so far have earned a place in knockout pre quarter-finals from their respective groups on the penultimate day of league matches in the 38th National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Wednesday.
The quartet includes former Sindh champion Mohammad Ishtiaq (group A), former Pakistan No 1 Imran Shehzad (group C), former Pakistan junior No 2 Mohammad Majid Ali (group E) and Abdul Sattar (group F).
Ishtiaq has completed his league engagements winning all the four fixtures including the one against world amateur snooker champion Mohammad Asif on the opening day.
Imran, Majid and Sattar have conjured up three victories apiece and play their last fixtures on Thursday.
Top two cueists from eight groups will qualify for the last 16 round which begins from Friday.
Khurram Agha, a former country’s top cueist, who is currently ranked 10th in the national rankings, recovered twice from deficit to whip former national champion and contemporary Naveen Perwani 4-3. The former was home 47-60, 74-23, 14-71, 68-13, 64-30, 55-62, 68-4 in the group H tie.
Agha and Perwani play their last league matches on Friday and a win can earn them a place in last 16.
Results: Mohammad Javed Ansari (Sindh) bt Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (0-1 (first frame awarded to Gul), 59-61, 82-37, 59-37, 50-41, 29-69, 60-30); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Abdul Rehman (Balochistan) 4-0 (56-39, 67-13, 72-33, 104-16); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Khizar Aziz (Sindh) 4-3 (15-72, 80-10, 51-83, 62-49, 63-70, 69-43, 64-37); Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Mohsin Amin(Punjab) 4-3 (60-41, 34-54, 58-67, 67-40, 34-44, 58-54, 70-1); Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) bt Amir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0
(63-36, 64-60, 66-28, 67-14); Amir Rasheed (Punjab) bt Najeebullah Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (25-74, 65-33, 76-8, 78-29, 72-11); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (66-32, 61-57, 17-63, 6-76, 74-46, 62-58); Mohammad Uzair Aziz (Sindh) bt Qamar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (43-79, 63-48, 73-48, 65-37, 44-58, 58-2); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-2 (60-38, 60-1, 29-60, 13-40, 54-34, 74-55); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Ayaz Khan (Islamabad) 4-3 (64-39, 44-51, 60-65, 29-64, 87-7, 56-38, 77-49);Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Naveen Perwani (Sindh) 4-3 (47-60, 74-23, 14-71, (71), 68-13, 64-30, 55-62, 68-4); Vishan Gir (Sindh) bt Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (60-17, 66-24, 86-79, 79-56).
Thursday’s fixtures: Mohammad Sajjad v Mohammad Majid Ali, Mohammad Javed v Abdul Sattar, Shahid Aftab v Vishan Gir, Sharjeel Mehmood v Khurram Agha at 10am; Mohammad Asif v Babar Masih, Asjad Iqbal v Abu Saim, Sultan Mohammad v Mohammad Yousuf, Sohail Shehzad v Umair Alam at 12noon; Bahadur Khan v Rambel Gul, Ayaz Khan v Abdul Rehman, Shah Khan v Khizar Aziz, Naveen Perwani v Farhan Noor at 2pm; Saqib Bashir v Amir Shahzad, Shafiullah v Najeebullah Khan, Abdul Majid v Imran Shehzad, Hamza Akbar v Mohammad Uzair Aziz at 4pm.
