KARACHI, Jan 31: Left-hander Vishan Gir playing some splendid snooker, handed out a 4-2 defeat to tournament favourite Saleh Mohammad at the KPT Sports Complex late Thursday night.
Lying third behind Amit Perwani and Saleh Mohammad in Group F, Vishan who qualified from the pre-qualifiers just because the former Pakistan skipper and No.4 Sarwer Siddiqui called it a day, was in devastating form snatching the first and third frames to take over the lead 2-1.
Saleh however, stormed back and potting 11 reds with the black ball raced to 88 points and seemed to be heading for that magic break of 147. But after potting another red Saleh this time sunk blue and with three reds and the coloured balls left his score stood at 94. Trying to pot another red Saleh was terribly disappointed as the ball failed to sink into the right hand pocket.
However he did receive a healthy round of applause while equalising the frame scores 2-2. Vishan unruffled with the situation raced through the next two frames 61/10 and 67/38, to emerge a worthy 4-2 winner and a great chance of reaching the last 16.
On Thursday morning Vishan without a blemish, booked his place when he brushed aside Punjab’s Khurram Khan 4-1. Now everything depended on the Saleh - Amit Perwani clash to decide who would be the next player in the Group for the knock-out rounds.
Amit had a plus 8 frame advantage to Saleh’s plus 6 and still unbeaten, would have to take three frames to see Saleh make his exit even if he lost the match. Both players were under tremendous pressure when the match began in pindrop silence.
Saleh took the first two frames before Amit cut down the deficit 1-2, but he succumbed to the immense pressure and lost the last two frames to make his exit even after winning four of his five matches.
Saleh on the other hand heaved a sigh of relief, surviving to fight another day when he meets Punjab’s Mohammad Nazir, for a quarter-final berth.
Third seed Farhan Mirza also had a narrow escape finally overcoming Punjab’s A. Qadeer Butt 4-3, even after the latter sounded a break of 102 in the third frame to take over the lead 2-1. Farhan had another struggle on his hands on Thursday morning before overcoming the courageous fightback by KPT’s Younus Amir Baksh and will now meet Punjab’s M. Faiq Malik, who went down 4-3 to top seed Khurram Hussain Agha, but managed to grab the second spot in Group A, with Khurram winning all his five matches to perch himself on top of the table.
Also qualifying with Farhan was another Punjab cueist Raja Rashid, who ousted Rambel Gul 4-1, and edge out A. Qadeer Butt for the second place in Group C, although A. Qadeer Butt came through a 4-1 winner against Sindh’s Salman Shaikh.
Imran Shehzad beat Arifullah 4-3 in the last match in Group E. Both cueists had nine points and plus nine frame advantage. But it was Shehzad to took the top spot due to his victory over Arifullah.
In Group H, both eighth Atiq Latif Baksh and ninth seed Shakeel Bhatti, unbeaten until Thursday morning, qualified. Atiq trailing 1-3 at one stage of the game was in danger of making his exit. But throwing caution to the winds, Atiq, who also represents the KPT, came back with flying colours, winning the next three frames to emerge a narrow 4-3 winner and top the Group.
Aneel Bherwani, qualifying from the Sindh Cup, surprised many by winning all his five matches, when he beat off the challenge of Faisal Essa 4-1 to top Group G. Faisal was indeed a lucky qualifier for the knock-out rounds.
Punjab’s Azeem Akhtar needed to beat Irfan Rasheed Khan by a 4-1 margin to keep his chances alive, but at the time of filing this story, Irfan had already taken two frames from Azeem, leading 2-1. Faisal will now challenge the eleven time and defending champion Mohammad Yousuf on Friday morning.
Another player who qualified from the Sindh Cup was Ahmer Shaikh, who beat the lad from Larkana Mohammad Amin in an exciting 4-3 finish. Ahmer will now match his skill against the top seed Khurram Hussain Agha.
Second seed Naveen Perwani received his first setback in the tournament, going down 4-3 to Punjab’s Mohammad Nazir. However, Naveen managed to retain his place on top of the ladder, after Nazir continuing where he had left off on Thursday night,cruised past NWFP’s reputed cueist Inam ur Rehman 4-1, to come from behind and take the second place in Group B.
Qualifying for the last 16 are nine players from Sindh, five from Punjab and two from NWFP. Balochistan has no player in the knock-out rounds.
The first four matches of the pre-quarterfinals will be played from 11.00 a.m. in the best of nine frames, while the next four frames gets under way at 3.00 p.m.
Following is the line-up for the pre-quarterfinals:
Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) v/s Faisal Essa (Sindh). M. Faiq Malik (Punjab) v/s Farhan Mirza (Punjab). Imran Shehzad (Punjab) v/s Atiq Latif Baksh (Sindh). Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) v/s Mohammad Nazir (Punjab). Aneel Bherwani (Sindh) v/s Arifullah (NWFP). Vishan Gir (Sindh) v/s Shakeel Bhatti (Sindh). Naveen Perwani (Sindh) v/s Raja Rashid (Punjab). Ahmer Shaikh (Sindh) v/s Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh).