KARACHI, March 20: Qualifiers Jawed Ansari (Sindh) and Dr Imran Qamar (Punjab) made impressive debuts when they sent seeded Inamur Rehman and Minhas Malik packing on the opening day of the 31st National snooker championship at the Snooker Zone on Monday.
Ansari conceded two frames on his way to registering 61-54, 68-42, 7-43, 49-40, 27-66, 79-44 win over 14th ranked Inam (NWFP) in the best of seven frames encounter.
Similarly, Qamar who hails from Gujranwala, after dropping the opening frame recovered to topple 13th seed Minhas 51-64, 73-4, 59-21, 70-34, 76-18.
Sindh Cup champion, Irfan Rasheed Khan, was stretched to limits by Mustafa Hyder before emerging 82-60, 58-31, 63-65, 11-58, 42-53, 60-22, 47-22 victorious.
The 16 top ranked players, who were exempted from the provincial cups as per PBSA policy, would be seen in action Tuesday.
Top seed and 13-time champion, Mohammad Yousuf, is drawn to meet qualifier Naeem Jaffar of Balochistan at 10.00am.
On the next table, reigning national champion and second seed, Saleh Mohammad will face Sindh’s Mohammad Kashif. Saleh has reached here from Iran to defend his crown.
Also to appear in the morning session were third seed Naveen Perwani and fourth seed Abu Saim. The former is pitted against Mohammad Sharif of Punjab while the latter takes on NWFP’s Yasir Shahzad.
Meanwhile, country’s top three players-Yousuf, Saleh and Naveen would represent the country in the S. S. Kataria international memorial snooker tournament being held at Dubai from April 2 to 7.
PBSA, the games controlling body in the country, has sent the entry to meet the March 20 deadline set by their Dubai counterpart for arranging visas, PBSA official, Arif Tahirbhai said Monday.
PBSA has named Abu Saim, the fourth ranked player, as stand by. Pakistan team would fly to Emirates on April 1.
Besides Pakistan, teams from India, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the hosts UAE would feature in the contest.
Results:
Kamran Razzaq (Sindh) bt Raja Rashid (pun) 4-2 (71-34, 33-67, 43-51, 50-41, 72-42, 77-44); Mohammad Hussain (NWFP) bt Mohammad Sadiq (Pun) 4-2 (63-40, 55-60, 3-50, 55-52, 52-19, 65-25); Shah Khan (NWFP) bt Mohammad Ali (Bal) 4-1 (20-62, 51-34, 50-28, 64-27, 76-20); Syed Mesam Zaidi (Sindh) bt Abdul Rehman (Bal) 4-0 (60-19, 52-33, 66-32, 50-1); Tahir Rasheed (Pun) bt Kashif Khan (Sindh) 4-2 (38-77, 29-53, 69-28, 52-28, 54-29, 98-50); Hamid Bata (NWFP) bt Asif Haris (Pun) 4-1 (47-36, 68-43, 20-61, 55-42, 59-23); Nauman Awan (NWFP) bt Jan Ali (Bal) 4-1 (77-7, 26-63, 62-22, 52-20, 66-18); Irfan Rasheed Khan (Sindh) bt Mustafa Hyder (Bal) 4-3 (82-60, 58-31,63-65, 11-58, 42-53, 60-22, 47-22); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Khalid Khan (NWFP) 4-1 (40-64, 105-8, 75-1, 67-18, 62-15); Raees Khan (Pun) bt Taj Mohammad (Bal) 4-0 (65-14, 81-0, 94-21, 73-37); Jawed Ansari (Sindh) bt Inam-ur-Rehman (NWFP) 4-2 (61-54, 68-42, 7-43, 49-40, 27-66, 79-44); Dr.Imran Qamar (Pun) bt Minhas Malik (Pun) 4-1 (51-64, 73-4, 59-21, 70-34, 76-18); Saqib Butt (Pun) bt Mehmood Khan (Bal) 4-2 (47-57, 61-41, 68-35, 43-56, 56-51, 70-13); M. Imtiaz Tipu (Pun) bt Imran Khan (Pun) 4-0 (60-39, 72-50, 51-31, 62-55).
Tuesday’s fixtures:
At 10.00am: Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) v Naeem Jaffer (Bal); Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) v Mohammad Kashif (Sindh); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) v Mohammad Sharif (Pun); Abu Saim ((Pun) v Yasir Shahzad (NWFP)at 12.00pm: Atiq Latif Bux (Sindh) v Mohammad Yousuf (Bal); Imran Shehzad (Pun) v Vishin Gir (Sindh); Khurram Agha (Sindh) v Farhan Noor (Pun); Shehram Changezi (Pun) v Rambel Gul (NWFP) at 2.00pm: Salman Shaikh (Sindh) v Kashif Khan (Sindh); Saqib Butt (Pun) v Asif Haris (Pun); Mohammad Asif (Pun) v Nauman Awan (NWFP); M. Imtiaz Tipu (Pun) v Mustafa Hyder (Bal) . at 4.00pm: Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) v Kamran Razak (Sindh); Raees Khan (Pun) v Mohammad Sadiq (Pun); Inam-ur-Rehman (NWFP) v Shah Khan (NWFP); Minhas Malik (Pun) v Abdul Rehman (Bal).