KARACHI: Top three seeds Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sajjad, and Shahid Aftab and eighth seed Babar Masih all advanced on Friday, while fourth seed Mohammad Bilal failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the NBP 46th National Snooker Championship here.

Holder Asif, who is also a two-time world champion, had a close shave against Sindh’s qualifier Umer Naeem before winning 5-4 to keep his unbeaten run intact.

Asif won the topsy-turvy encounter with a scoreline of 83-30, 127-8, 89-33, 27-68, 66-36, 20-73, 57-66, 4-69, 64-31.

Second seed Sajjad sent packing low-profile qualifier from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mohammad Saleem 5-1. He was home 24-72, 82-11, 99-10, 93-0, 68-25, 78-48.

Third seed Shahid recovered from two frames down to post a 5-2 victory over Punjab qualifier Owaisullah with the scores being 21-91, 72-79, 58-24, 71-60, 69-55, 80-38, 122-9. The former chalked up a break of 122 in the final frame.

Fourth seed and former national champion Bilal crumbled a 3-5 debacle against promising Haris Tahir who won the duel 24-58, 44-58, 60-21, 41-85, 64-31, 65-14, 62-27, 80-50.

Babar, who was just a frame away from victory, conceded four frames on the trot before pocketing the decisive frame during his 5-4 win over Sharjeel Mehmood. The scores were 90-30, 96-11, 80-34, 108-30, 9-88, 15-95, 0-99, 36-64, 77-0. Babar also registered a break of 104 in the fourth frame.

Three more unseeded cueists — national under-17 champion Ahsan Ramzan, Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and Mohammad Faizan also marched into the quarter-finals.

Ahsan won 5-1 against Umair Haider reach his first men’s quarter-final while Zulfiqar defeated Mohammad Ijaz by the identical margin.

Faizan had to fight all the way to overcome national under-21 champion Sheikh M. Mudassir by five frame to four.

Sajjad will face Zulfiqar while Haris takes on Shahid in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Asif is pitted against Ahsan while Faizan will be up against Babar in the other two last-eight encounters.

Results:

Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 5-1 (71-45, 72-18, 39-57, 72-14, 72-25, 61-56); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 5-1 (24-72, 82-11, 99-10, 93-0, 68-25, 78-48); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) 5-3 (24-58, 44-58, 60-21, 41-85, 64-31, 65-14, 62-27, 80-50); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Owaisullah (Punjab) 5-2 (21-91, 72-79, 58-24, 71-60, 69-55, 80-38, 122-9); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Umer Naeem (Sindh) 5-4 (83-30, 127-8, 89-33, 27-68, 66-36, 20-73, 57-66, 4-69, 64-31); Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Umair Haider (Punjab) 5-1 (106-47, 55-27, 70-39, 16-75, 62-58, 48-9); Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Sheikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) 5-4 (53-41, 71-8, 62-55, 27-58, 88-15, 53-68, 34-68, 14-70, 70-28); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 5-4 (90-30, 96-11, 80-34, 108-30, 9-88, 15-95, 0-99, 36-64, 77-0).

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2021