KARACHI: Unseeded Awaisullah Munir created an upset by edging out sixth seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir on the fourth day of league matches of the Jubilee Insurance 43rd National Snooker Championship 2018 here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Thursday.
It was first defeat for Zulfiqar Qadir, who had won his first three games. Top seeded Asjad Iqbal, second seed Muhammad Asif, third seed Muhammad Bilal, and eighth seed Babar Masih remained unbeaten in the competition while fourth seed Shahid Aftab, fifth seed Mubashir Raza, and seventh seed Khurram Hussain Agha, also stayed in the hunt for a place in the pre-quarter-finals. At the end of the fourth day of the preliminary rounds, Asjad Iqbal was on top in the Group A with Muhammad Imran and Ali Haider placed at joint second position.
There was a three-horse dace in the Group B where Muhammad Asif, a former world champion, Muhammad Naseem Akhtar, the reigning Under-18 world champion, and Muhammad Umar, the current national Under-18 champion, had four victories each. Muhammad Bilal has virtually ensured his place in the pre-quarter-finals from the Group C by having won his first four matches with Usman Ahmed and Agha Bilawal tied at the second position.
Aakash Rafique has moved to the top slot in the Group D with three victories in as many games while Shahid Aftab is at second position with three wins in four attempts. Unseeded Qadeer Abbas leads the charts in the Group E with four straight wins while Muhammad Majid Ali, a wild card entrant, has also boosted his chances by winning all three matches. Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir still sits at the top in the Group F with Muhammad Ahsan Javaid well placed to claim the runner-up slot.
Abdul Sattar stands tall in the Group G by having emerged triumphant in all his four matches while Khurram Agha has three wins from four games. Babar Masih has won all his four matches in the Group H with Muhammad Ijaz having won three out of four games.
The preliminary round, being contested by 54 cueists, will continue for a couple of more days at the end of which top two cueists from each of the eight groups will qualify for the knockout phase.
Results: Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt M Faizan (Sindh) 4-3 (15-75, 79-16, 53-67, 72-18, 83-49, 47-62, 49-1); Awaisullah Munir (Pjb) bt Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) 4-3 (66-24, 23-65, 34-72, 36-73, 77-2, 75-14, 64-54); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Aamir Shahzad (KP) 4-3 (39-78, 47-70, 57-45, 66-29, 71-25, 49-72, 59-50); M Ishtaiq (Sindh) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-2 (20-61, 78-63, 22-70, 60-43, 67-48, 80-28); Rambail Gul (KP) bt Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) 4-3 (21-86, 59-23, 30-63, 53-44, 78-6, 34-66, 69-56); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-3 (67-28, 58-17, 69-31, 42-67, 18-60, 44-65, 62-54); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Noman Javed (Isb) 4-2 (71-11, 31-70, 73-35, 88-33, 26-78, 83-54); M Ijaz (Pjb) bt Haris Tahir (Pjb) 4-2 (8-58, 62-67, 32-71, 75-24, 81-22, 68-4, 64-50); Abdul Javaid (Pjb) bt Mahmood Khan (Bal) 4-0 (walkover); Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) bt Saif Ali Khan (Bal) 4-0 (75-42, 68-48, 56-15, 55-29); Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) bt Jahangir Yar Muhammad (Bal) 4-0 (walkover); Muhammad Umar (Pjb) bt Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) 4-1 (59-49, 83-8, 1-64, 59-38, 50-39); Majid Ali (Pjb) bt M Faizan (Sindh) 4-0 (73-34, 72-16, 73-18, 57-56); Qadeer Abbas (Pjb) bt M Abdullah (KP) 4-1 (46-70, 60-41, 70-60, 76-45, 73-46); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Awaisullah (Pjb) 4-3 (5-76, 17-81, 41-69, 62-36, 66-19, 73-16, 53-62); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Saeed Ahmed (Bal) 4-2 (74-24, 44-62, 52-28, 33-53, 76-22, 65-59); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Aamir Shahzad (KPK) 4-0 (71-24, 59-56, 75-34, 57-28); M Sajjad (Pjb) bt Ahmed Shah (Bal) 4-1 (53-43, 16-78, 92-1, 59-38, 50-8); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) 4-2 (72-45, 46-59, 64-39, 65-15, 0-72, 73-4); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Aamir Shahzad (KP) 4-1 (52-9, 75-39, 66-16, 21-84, 62-13); M Ijaz (Pjb) bt Noman Javed (Isb) 4-2 (76-32, 1-59, 79-4, 78-34, 47-53, 66-25); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Ahmed Shah (Bal) 4-1 (42-49, 69-0, 57-38, 74-37, 54-49); Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Samiullah (Bal) 4-1 (43-75, 78-29, 66-58, 97-0, 78-1); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Abdul Javaid (Pjb) 4-2 (20-66, 100-0, 79-0, 65-28, 32-64, 82-27); Musaddiq Mahmood (Isb) bt Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) 4-1 (39-73, 58-50, 78-55, 69-28, 47-45); Turyali Aziz (Bal) bt Mahmood Khan (Bal) 4-0 (walkover); Aakash Rafique (KP) bt Saif Ali Khan (Bal) 4-0 (44-4, 54-15, 58-22, 56-52).