KARACHI: Five seeded cueists met their fate and could not go beyond league as quarter-finals line up was drawn in the Jubilee Insurance third ranking snooker championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday.

The five who crashed out includes second seed Shahid Aftab, third seed Mohammad Ijaz, fourth seed Abdul Sattar, fifth seed Mohammad Sajjad and eighth seed Sohail Shahzad.

The five outsiders, who have stormed into the quarters, are ninth seed Mohammad Asif, 10th seed Babar Masih, 12th seed Khurram, 17th seed Zulfiqar Qadir and 19th Mohammad Ahsan Javaid.

The three seeded players who justified their billing include top seed Asjad Iqbal, sixth seed Mubashir Raza and the seventh seed Mohammad Bilal.

Bilal and Mubashir created quite a stir by upsetting second seed Aftab and third seed Ijaz respectively.

Bilal sent Aftab packing 4-0 (69-1, 53-37, 64-51, 80-11) to seize a place in the last eight while Mubashir routed Ijaz 4-1 (67-39, 70-23, 31-66, 79-38, 70-57) to emerge group C champion.

National champion Sajjad, meanwhile, ended the league on losing note when he was humbled by Sattar in straight games 73-48, 63-19, 77-14, 59-19 in his last group match. Sajjad has been found wanting in the event which is evident from the fact that he lost five matches and won just one.

The best of nine frames quarter-finals will be played on Wednesday at 10am. Asif takes on Ahsan Javaid while Asjad is pitted against Mubashir. Bilal will be up against Babar while Zulfiqar meets Khurram.

Position after completion of league matches:

A: Khurram Agha (Sindh), Asjad Iqbal (Punjab)

B: Mohammad Bilal (Punjab), Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab)

C: Mubashir Raza (Punjab), Babar Masih (Punjab)

D: Mohammad Asif (Punjab), Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh)

Results:

Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (1-0 (first frame awarded to Khurram, 74-17, 1-70, 98-20, 59-68, 59-1); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) bt Haris Tahir (Punjab) 4-2 (23-76, 56-36, 62-22, 1-83, 60-43, 88-0); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Nadir Miraan (Punjab) 4-0 (56-20, 88-1, 85-25, 89-20); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-2 (62-42, 72-13, 26-60, 61-59, 35-67, 61-9); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-0 (76-69, 75-26, 63-26, 87-14); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-0 (69-1, 53-37, 64-51, 80-11); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-1 (67-39, 70-23, 31-66, 79-38, 70-57); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-0 (73-48, 63-19, 77-14, 59-19).

Wednesday’s fixtures:

Quarter-finals: Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) v Mubashir Raza (Punjab); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) v Babar Masih (Punjab); Zulfiqar A.Qadir (Sindh) v Khurram Agha (Sindh) at 10am.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2017