Ahsan Ramzan survives Ijaz scare in National Snooker

LAHORE: Former world champion Ahsan Ramzan survived Mohammad Ijaz’s scare to qualify for the quarter-finals of the NBP 48th National Snooker Championship being held at the NBP Sports Complex Karachi snooker arena on Saturday.

In the pre-quarter-finals Ahsan Ramzan of Punjab defeated Muhammad Ijaz of Punjab 5-4 after a gripping clash which enthralled the audience.

Ahsan, who also is a reigning Asian Under-21 champion, was off to a good start to win the first frame 58-36.However Ijaz fought back strongly and went on to win the next three frames 108-6 (105), 76-41, 89-42 to secure 3-1 lead.Ahsan, who had conquered Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh 6-5 in the 2021 World Championship final, then reduced the deficit by winning the fifth frame 100-8 with a break of 75.Ijaz won the next frame 78-0 (78) to stretch his lead to 4-2.

However at this stage Ahsan applied himself and utilized what he had and went on to win the next three frames 90-69, 63-29 and 70-27 to seal a fantastic win. The frames score was 90-69, 58-36, 6-108 (105), 41-76, 42-89, 100-8(75), 0-78(78), 90-69, 63-29, 70-27.

Also qualified for the quarter-finals are: Asjad Iqbal, former national champion Shahid Aftab, Mohammad Naseem Akhtar, last edition’s runner-up and second seed Shan Namat, Sohail Shehzad, Adil Khan, third seed Awais Ullah Munir and Abdul Javed of Islamabad.In the pre-quarter-finals Asjad Iqbal of National Bank downed Ali Hamza of Sindh 5-3 with the frames score being 77-34 (61), 72-21, 18-57, 20-62, 98-33 (97), 65-57, 21-58, 65-35.In the other last 16 fixture Shahid Aftab of Punjab overwhelmed Abdul Sattar of Sindh 5-4.

It was a sensational fight and the pendulum kept tilting before Shahid sealing its fate in his favour. The frames score was 67-15 (63), 32-91, 78-52, 16-76, 20-65 (60), 63-41, 60-41, 66-79 (58), 74-51.

Mohammad Naseem Akhtar of Punjab defeated Aakash Rafiq of KP 5-1 to also blast his way into the last eight. The frames score was 69-56, 70-32, 25-71, 67-10, 78-57(58), 65-31.Shan Namat of Islamabad, who is second seed of the 37-cueists event, did not take any pain to progress as he managed a facile straight frames win against seasoned Mohammad Sajjad of NBP.

The frames score was 73-66, 76-09, 57-36, 59-08, 58-21.It was also a perfect day for Sindh’s Sohail Shehzad who fired two century breaks to oust Haris Tahir of Punjab 5-4 in another absorbing pre-quarter-final.

At one stage Sohail was losing 4-2. However he made a stunning recovery and went on to win the next three frames to secure a super win.

The frames score remained 117-01(108), 58-70, 111-14(105), 0-132(100), 47-57, 16-67(66), 102-17, 68-61, 67-34. In the other last 16 encounter third seed Awais Ullah Munir of Punjab, who had put former world champion Mohammad Asif out of the event on Friday, defeated Babar Masih of Punjab 5-4. The frames score was 67-28, 0-85, 29-78, 60-62, 81-0, 77-0(77), 96-0(96), 0-142(142), 64-56.