KARACHI: Continuing from where he had left the other day, reigning junior world champion M. Naseem Akhtar stunned another experienced cueist and fifth seed Mohammad Sajjad in the Jubilee Insurance third ranking snooker championship at the Karachi Gymkhana on Saturday.

Naseem, who had shocked fourth seed Abdul Sattar in his group D opening fixture on Friday, stood tall by hammering an elegant break of 135 in the third frame while returning 69-0, 72-1, 135-0, 65-1 victorious.

With two wins under his belt, the snooker prodigy also tasted as many defeats. First, he lost to the former Asian No 2 Mohammad Majid Ali in the fully stretched battle after enjoying 3-1 lead and then fall pray to the former world champion Mohammad Asif 2-4 in the third session on Saturday.

Veteran Imran Shehzad, who is presently ranked 18th, humbled third seed Mohammad Ijaz 4-0 (67-25, 110-12, 57-28, 65-14).

Top two seeds, Asjad Iqbal and Shahid Aftab, meanwhile, stretched their unbeaten run. The former carved out authoritative 4-1 victory over Islamabad’Shahram Changezi 59-26, 28-68, 88-14, 66-31, 67-23 while the latter blanked Ahsan Javaid straight 78-50, 66-51, 69-12, 66-6.

Results:

Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (81-46, 35-61, 77-1, 101-12, 38-70, 74-7); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Umer Farooq (Punjab) 4-0 (83-6, 115-12, 65-38, 91-37); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Sheikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) 4-0 (62-41, 64-46, 68-48, 63-44); Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-0 (69-0, 72-1, 135-0, 65-1); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) 4-1 (59-26, 28-68, 88-14, 66-31, 67-23); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Ahsan Javiad (Punjab) 4-0 (78-50, 66-51, 69-12, 66-6); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-0 (67-25, 110-12, 57-28, 65-14); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-0 ( 90-21, 70-22, 79-16, 119-0); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Mohammad Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 walkover; Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) bt Umer Farooq (Punjab) 4-1 (63-49, 71-32, 22-95, 81-2, 68-25); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Sheikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) 4-0 (93-54, 64-19, 95-35, 79-9); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt M. Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-2 (89-47, 86-11, 93-41, 30-94, 11-88, 84-10).

Friday’s remaining results:

Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-2 (52-64, 77-45, 63-24, 60-46, 38-46, 44-23); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-2 (63-19, 74-14, 27-51, 55-45, 0-76, 59-25); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (39-58, 7-75, 72-40, 73-59, 67-31, 63-42); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (67-57, 62-21, 60-46, 39-59, 74-9); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Mohammad Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (16-87, 71-48, 72-63, 47-9, 52-27); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Umer Farooq (Punjab) 4-0 (66-32, 64-2, 79-33, 97-1); Sheikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) bt Nadir Miraan (Punjab) 4-3 (26-69, 60-52, 63-43, 49-3, 6-82, 43-58, 58-43); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt M. Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-3 (94-38, 32-90, 9-91, 5-67, 70-29, 97-29, 74-0).

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2017