KARACHI: Sultan Muhammad, a qualifier from Sindh, surprised fourth seed Muhammad Majid Ali on the fifth day of league matches in the Jubilee Insurance National Snooker Championship here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Sunday.
Top seed Babar Masih, third seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and fifth seed Muhammad Bilal have already forced their way into the knockout phase as the preliminary round matches, being contested by 56 cueists, divided equally into eight groups, will end on Tuesday (tomorrow).
Seventh seed Shahid Aftab, who had captured the national crown about a decade ago, has kept his hopes alive of having another go at the title with sterling performance in the ongoing championship.
Second seed and defending champion Muhammad Asif seems in a spot of bother in Group B despite winning three of his five matches. He will need a comprehensive victory in his sixth and final league outing to move into the pre-quarter-finals.
Fourth seed Majid Ali has jeopardized his chances of advancing to the next round by succumbing to defeat at the hands of a qualifier while sixth seed Sharjeel Mahmood and eighth seed Rambail Gul have also suffered losses in the preliminary rounds.
Sultan and Majid were engaged in a fierce battle that went the full distance of seven frames. Majid showed his class during the course of compiling breaks of 71 and 54 in the tensely-fought encounter but it was the obdurate Sultan who prevailed in the decisive seventh frame to cause an upset.
Shaikh Muhammad Mudassir was another unseeded cueist to have come out with flying colours on Sunday. He fired a sensational break of 128 during his straight-frame victory over Bahadur Khan.
Defending champion Asif showed his masterclass as he powered his way to the breaks of 94, 58, 67 and 93 against his inexperienced opponent, Sarbuland Khan, whom he toppled in straight frames.
Results: Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) bt Muhammad Majid Ali (Pjb) 4-3 (15-104, 69-13, 50-41, 1-63, 71-19, 1-86, 61-37); Ahsan Ramzan (Pjb) bt Abdul Jalil (KPK) 4-2 (56-19, 55-25, 44-54, 32-62, 73-11, 61-53); Saif Ali Khan (Bal) bt Ali Raza (Sindh) 4-1 (21-65, 68-42, 46-9, 74-16, 60-28); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Aamir Tariq (Pjb) 4-2 (62-20, 34-59, 65-2, 8-71, 59-57, 67-40); Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-0 (94-37, 76-47, 60-19, 128-8); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Musaddiq Mahmood (Isb) 4-2 (57-46, 74-13(54), 36-69, 53-34, 50-57, 90-46); Muhammad Asif (Pjb) bt Sarbuland Khan (KPK) 4-0 (118-14, 125-1, 80-28, 93-1); Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) bt Hamza Ilyas (Pjb) 4-2 (12-71, 62-43, 73-6, 77-31, 41-47, 62-14); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Mubashir Raza (Pjb) 4-3 (69-30, 41-80, 45-51, 69-24, 24-103, 81-38, 63-31); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Rabish Pervez (Bal) 4-0 (82-32, 75-0, 62-55, 77-0); Muhammad Mudassir (Isb) bt Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) 4-2 (81-65, 38-66, 3-53, 59-40, 76-45, 75-65); Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb) bt Farhan Khan (KPK) 4-2 (66-24, 43-64, 64-21, 66-16, 22-64, 76-47); Rambail Gul (KPK) bt Abu Saim (Pjb) 4-2 (41-57, 60-46, 72-29, 76-47, 40-66, 71-0); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Aakash Rafique (KPK) 4-0 (70-45, 70-60, 67-54, 60-55); Munawwar Khaliq (Isb) bt Abdul Hameed (Bal) 4-0 (95-11, 71-18, 58-7, 54-37); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-3 (53-54, 41-60, 99-7, 64-2, 67-8, 38-71, 61-32); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Ameer Hamza Khan (Isb) 4-3 (68-2, 29-47, 34-55, 60-52, 0-70, 75-67, 65-45); Aamir Sohail (KPK) bt Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-3 (29-51, 61-57, 6-69, 79-20, 37-61, 64-54, 88-1); Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Saeed Khan (Bal) 4-0 (71-12, 60-50, 59-7, 43-12); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Abdul Majid (Sindh) 4-3 (18-75, 59-34, 25-65, 6-74, 55-53, 63-3, 55-31); Muhammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Abdul Raziq (Bal) 4-0 (71-0, 81-16, 80-24, 60-43); Ali Haider (Pjb) bt Abdul Raziq (Bal) 4-3 (49-57, 57-41, 31-56, 54-61, 71-9, 78-25, 69-35); Rambail Gul (KPK) bt Munawwar Khaliq (Isb) 4-2 (75-15, 56-26, 53-59, 30-58, 68-41, 43-34); Abu Saim (Pjb) bt Aakash Rafique (KP) 4-3 (6-83, 14-63, 29-59, 73-14, 64-48, 66-18, 73-15); Aamir Shahzad (KPK) bt Abdul Hameed (Bal) 4-2 (86-35, 44-57, 54-59, 76-70, 70-31, 58-29); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-1 (56-59, 77-16, 88-0, 63-62, 66-38); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) 4-3 (43-66, 36-86, 55-42, 53-51, 16-72, 78-7, 67-45); Aamir Sohail (KPK) bt Habib Shah (Bal) 4-0 (40-14, 56-46, 57-20, 60-33).