National Snooker semis today

KARACHI: Debutants Shan Naimat and Awaisullah Munir, alongwith fifth seed Shahid Aftab and unseeded Sultan Muhammad, stormed into the semifinals of the NBP 47th National Snooker Championship 2023 as they overcame their respective rivals in the quarter-finals here at the NBP Sports Complex in Clifton on Sunday.

Both the semifinals will be played on Monday (today) with the championship due to conclude with the final on Tuesday (tomorrow). In the first semifinal, scheduled to begin at 10 am, Shan Naimat of Islamabad will lock horns with Awaisullah Munir of Punjab. In the other semifinal, Shahid Aftab of Punjab will take on Sultan Muhammad of Sindh.

Sirbuland Khan, a qualifier from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), who dethroned the vastly experienced Muhammad Sajjad, a former world number two, in the pre-quarters the other day, was blown away in quarter-finals by Sultan Muhammad who won the contest 5-2 with the frame scores of 84-13, 26-72, 72-26, 72-1, 59-68, 83-07(62), 68-83.

Adil Abdul Jabbar, the Balochistan Cup champion, having performed superbly during the past four days, was tamed by Islamabad’s Shan Naimat 5-1 with the frame scores of 78-34, 62-10, 62-10, 62-8, 72-1, 48-76, 76-24.

Awaisullah Munir blew the whistle on Naseem Akhtar, a former world junior champion from Punjab, overpowering him 5-3 with the scores of 134-0, 28-55, 65-26, 70-71, 59-18, 7-77, 74-0, 63-39.

The veteran Shahid Aftab, aiming to regain the national title, encountered little problems in knocking out Akash Rafiq of KPK winning the tie 5-2 with the frame scores of 59-19, 65-69, 60-54, 72-34, 54-69, 66-35, 56-52.