KARACHI, March 4 Upsets continued in the 35th National Snooker Championship when Imran Shehzad lowered the colours of country's top cueist Mohammad Sajjad in the fully stretched battle 4-3 at Karachi Gymkhana on Thursday.

The triumph helped the 2006 runner-up of the country's premier championship complete his group 'A' engagements on a winning note.

Earlier, he had chalked up a 4-2 win over Yasir Shehzad of the NWFP in the opener and 4-1 over Bahadur Baloch of Balochistan in the next fixture.

At the outset, Imran shot into a 2-0 lead against Sajjad pocketing the first and second frames 71-15 and 67-20 piling a break of 55 in the opener. However, he could not maintain the pace and saw the next two frames slipping from his hands losing 10-77 and 4-71.

Imran chalked up a fluent break of 70 to surge 3-2 up winning the fifth frame 79-0 only to lose 62-69. Finally, he sealed the fate claiming the last and decisive frame 61-41.

Sajjad, who was caught on the wrong foot by his opponent, also cracked a break of 70 in the fourth frame.

NWFP's Rambel Gul also fought tooth and nail while routing fourth seed and a former national champion Khurram Agha 4-3. The former won the battle 76-52, 22-66, 64-41, 62-60, 47-48, 36-70, 91-6.

Meanwhile, at least five qualifiers including last-minute entry Mohammad Akmal, qualified for the knockout pre quarter-finals.

The five qualifiers who eased into the last 16 include last year's national junior champion Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), Nauman Awan (NWFP), Imran Qamar (Punjab), Umair Alam and Mohammad Akmal, both from Sindh.

Results

Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-3 (71-15, 67-20, 10-77, 4-71, 79-0, 62-69, 61-41); Mohammad Asif (Pujab) bt Mohammad Akmal (Sindh) 4-2 (49-60, 56-32, 57-44, 55-15, 50-98, 50-48); Raees Khan (Punjab) bt Qasim Kamani (Sindh) 4-1 (100-10, 56-22, 42-45, 75-7, 68-37); Rambel Gul (NWFP) bt Khurram Agha (Sindh) 4-3 (76-52, 22-66, 64-41, 62-60, 47-48, 36-70, 91-6); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Jawaid (Punjab) 4-1 (88-6, 90-0, 24-71, 75-43, 66-18); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Naveen Perwani (Sindh) 4-1 (72-39, 77-6, 53-61, 58-1, 91-32); Sharjeel Mehmood (NWFP) bt Vishan Gir (Sindh) 4-1 (64-43, 64-0, 72-52, 54-67, 64-40); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Saqib Butt (Punjab) 4-1 (73-46, 57-45, 50-34, 54-67, 64-9); Bahadur Baloch (Balochistan) bt Yasir Shehzad (NWFP) 4-2 (55-33, 17-71, 34-71, 64-26, 70-29, 56-52); Farhan Khan (NWFP) bt Abdul Rauf Kurd (Balochistan) 4-3 (33-62, 28-83, 70-31, 28-70, 54-14, 61-51, 78-32); Nauman Awan (NWFP) bt Zahoor Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-0 (81-27, 48-16, 83-11, 68-32); Kamran Shah (Balochistan) bt Shah Khan (NWFP) 4-2 (66-34, 60-36, 17-49, 17-51, 73-65, 58-52); Imran Qamar (Punjab) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) 4-1 (77-33, 69-31, 61-58, 10-61, 72-0); Farrukh Usman (Sindh) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-0 (61-20, 57-49, 82-21, 65-42); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Abdul Qadeer Butt (Punjab) 4-1 (57-35, 48-73, 50-38, 59-15, 75-52); Shahram Changezi (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-3 (32-83, 13-63, 5-62, 55-37, 59-15, (71-53, 68-17).

Friday's fixtures

Pre-quarterfinals Sharjeel Mehmood v Khurram Agha; Nauman Awan v Mohammad Jawed; Imran Shehzad v Asjad Iqbal; Shahram Changezi v Mohammad Asif; Raees Khan v Mohammad Sajjad; Imran Qamar v Mohammad Asif Toba; Sohail Shehzad v Umair Alam; Mohammad Akmal v Rambel Gul.