Hamza stuns Ahsan as National Snooker begins

KARACHI: Local qualifier Hamza Ali created another major upset by toppling second seed and former world champion Ahsan Rizwan on the second day of the NBP 47th National Snooker Championship 2023 here at the NBP Sports Complex in Clifton on Thursday.

Shahid Aftab, Haris Tahir and Muhammad Faizan were the other seeded cueists to be downed by qualifiers Farrukh Usman, Wasim Abbas and Mubashir Raza respectively.

Top seeded Muhammad Sajjad, who is also the defending champion, booked his place in the knockout phase alongwith sixth seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and eighth seed Awaisullah Munir.

The unseeded trio of Shan Naimat, Adil Abdul Jabbar and Sultan Muhammad has also progressed to the next round by virtue of their sterling performance on the first couple of days of the championship, carrying a record prizemoney of Rs 525,000.

There are as many 10 spots for the pre-quarters up for the grabs on the third and final day of the preliminary round matches which will be contested on Friday (today).

Second seed Ahsan Ramzan has jeopardized his chances of advancing to the next round after losing his first couple of league matches in the Group A.

Third seed Babar Masih seems on course of progressing forward but fourth seed Haris Tahir, fifth seed Shahid Aftab and seventh seed Muhammad Faizan need to their last league matches to stay afloat in the competition.

Results: Farrukh Usman (Sindh) bt Shahid Aftab (Pjb) 4-3 (60-70, 47-40, 57-26, 0-141, 42-73, 64-0, 57-38); Abdul Javed (Isb) bt Fawad Khan (KPK) 4-2 (97-21, 51-91, 61-26, 78-67, 57-63, 61-50); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) 4-0 (101-27, 74-62, 85-0, 56-47); Adil Abdul Jabbar (Bal) bt Muhammad Iftikhar (Sindh) 4-0 (74-32, 61-7, 90-8, 65-26); Muhammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Rizwan Abdul Aziz (Bal) 4-0 (49-21, 59-18, 72-1, 61-29); Sharjeel(KPK) bt Mubashir (Pjb) 4-1 (80-39, 70-58, 50-14, 36-67, 55-42); Awaisullah Munir (Pjb) bt Saif Ali Khan (Bal) 4-0 (86-18, 70-0, 60-24, 79-18); Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) bt Amir (KPK) 4-3 (16-54, 66-31, 47-68, 77-13, 38-70, 72-36, 55-23); Sajjad (Pjb) bt Jahanzaib (Bal) 4-1 (67-46, 70-43, 66-43, 54-61, 78-1); Shan Naimat (Isb) bt Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) 4-1 (54-29, 65-15, 28-75, 71-45, 62-21); Hamza (Sindh) bt Ramzan (Pjb) 4-2 (5-92, 55-48, 48-17, 57-18, 69-11, 66-62); Sirbuland (KPK) bt Irfan (Pjb) 4-3 (56-60, 31-74, 43-63, 69-61, 70-0, 71-23, 62-23); Wasim (Pjb) bt Haris (Pjb) 4-1 (80-12, 55-68, 78-30, 59-34, 87-45); Abdul Jabbar (Bal) bt Ijaz (Pjb) 4-3 (114-6, 24-69, 31-73, 81-0, 30-71, 105-53, 78-65); Raza (Pjb) bt Faizan (Sindh) 4-1 (65-33, 5-66, 85-47, 76-10, 107-14); Sharjeel (KPK) bt Abdul Aziz (Bal) 4-1 (33-80, 60-9, 75-1, 61-2, 92-50); Munir (Pjb) bt Amir (Kpk) 4-2 (105-7, 66-57, 61-73, 15-57, 60-27, 68-6); Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) bt Saif Ali (Bal) 4-0 (68-30, 82-4, 91-50, 53-3).