KARACHI, Feb 7: Young Abu Saim from Sialkot was in fine fettle when he registered the highest break of 91, while downing Shahid Ali on the opening day in the 29th National Snooker Championship played at the Karachi Club.
After surrendering the opening frame 34/66, Abu got his act together to breeze past his opponent in the next four frames.
Playing in only his second national championship Hanif M. Bux got off to a whirlwind start beating M. Jamshed in four straight sets.
Also winning by 4-0 margins were 10th seed Amit Perwani who raced past Punjab's Shahid A. Saghar, Saqib Butt who beat Sindh's Farrukh Usman and Punjab's M. Nazir, who beat counterpart Imtiaz Tipu, helped on with breaks of 38 and 67 in the last two frames.
Danish Karim upset the applecart by outlasting former Sindh Cup champion Shadab Baig 4-3.
After winning the opening frame 74/9 with a fine break of 42, Shadab seemed cruising to victory leading 3-1.
But Danish getting his act together picked up the next three frames laced with breaks of 53 and 44, although Shadab managed 33 points on the trot in the final frame which he was unlucky to lose 58/62.
The Sindh Cup champion Shakir Rafiq began the tournament on the wrong foot, losing 4-1 to Masood Ahmed. The same can be said about Sindh Cup runner-up Sohail Shehzad, who met his Waterloo at the hands of Punjab's M. Asif, also by a 4-1 margin.
Veteran Mohammad Akhlas brushed aside Aamir Samdani 4-1, while Mohammad Amin accounted for Punjab's Raees Khan 4-2.
However, ninth seeded left-hander Vishan Gir, who was once ranked Pakistan No.4 in 1999, made heavy weather while getting the better of Punjab Cup winner Shehram Ghangezi 4-2, helped on with breaks of 43, 72 and 46.
Other 4-2 winners were the cueists from the NWFP Rambel Gul and Shah Khan after beating their respective opponents Atif Mughal (Punjab) and Kamran Shah (Balochistan). In another match that went the full distance, Imran Mughal helped on with breaks of 58 and 41, beat Janan Khan from Balochistan, who managed one break of 35 in the fifth frame.
Matches will resume today from 10.a.m.
Results:
Mohammad Amin (Sindh) beat Raees Khan (Punjab) 4-2: 5/77, 20/89, 66/53, 53/45, 50/24, 73/26. Hanif M. Bux (Sindh) beat M. Jamsheed (Sindh) 4-0: 57/21, 59/46, 54/16, 57/43. Danish Karim (Sindh) beat Shadab Baig (Sindh) 4-3: 9/74, 56/52, 30/55, 1/70, 65/39, 80/42, 62/58. M. Akhlas (Sindh) beat Aamir Samdani (Sindh) 4-1: 58/19, 49/55, 69/24, 56/33, 58/19. Masood Ahmed (Sindh) beat Shakir Rafiq (Sindh) 4-1: 73/13, 49/44, 12/82, 71/0, 63/32. Saqib Butt (Punjab) beat Farrukh Usman (Sindh) 4-0: 64/28, 64/34, 66/34, 57/19. M. Asif (Punjab) beat Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-1: 44/5, 53/14, 62/55, 12/61, 58/22. Abu Saim (Punjab) beat Shahid Ali (Punjab) 4-1: 34/66, 77/13, 51/49, 105/0, 75/36. Imran Mughal (Punjab) beat Janan Khan (Balochistan) 4-3: 61/23, 61/28,45/48, 30/60, 35/69, 75/22, 56/2. Shah Khan (NWFP) beat Kamran Shah (Balochistan) 4-2: 77/25, 23/49, 25/60, 61/59, 71/1, 60/26. Rambel Gul (NWFP) beat Atif Mughal (Punjab) 4-2: 59/52, 40/58, 50/14, 68/19, 14/70, 53/17. Vishan Gir (Sindh) beat Shehram Ghangezi (Punjab) 4-2: 83/5, 33/68, 72/2, 26/64, 69/48, 55/50. M. Nazir (Punjab) beat Imtiaz Tipu 4-0: 38/37, 56/44, 68/34, 73/2. Amit Parwani (Sindh) beat Shahid A. Saghar (Punjab) 4-0 : 82/6, 58/28, 64/29, 70/24. Kashif Khan (Sindh) w/o Ahmer Shaikh (Sindh). Shahid Ilyas (Punjab) w/o Faiq Malik (Punjab).