Asjad fighting for survival in Ranking Snooker

KARACHI: As many as 11 knockout spots were booked by the end of the penultimate day of league matches in the 2nd Ranking Snooker Championship 2016 here at Hotel Movenpick on Monday.

Five positions are still up for grabs on the fourth and final day of league matches with seventh seed Asjad Iqbal and eighth seed Abdul Jawed fighting hard for survival.

The top six seeds, Mohammad Bilal, Sohail Shahzad, Mohammad Asif, Babar Masih, Mohammad Sajjad and Shahram Changezi, advanced to the pre-quarter-finals, remaining unbeaten.

Bilal, top seed and the reigning national champion, qualified from the Group A in which Nauman Iqbal and Abu Saim are in contention for the other place.

Second seed Sohail, who ended runner-up in the last edition of the National Championship, made it to the last 16 from the Group B, leaving Ian Mark John, Mohammad Saqib and Mohammad Afzal to fight for the other slot.

Third seed Asif, a former world champion, and unseeded Mohammad Ijaz moved into the pre-quarters from the Group C.

Fourth seed Babar, who represented Pakistan in two events in Abu Dhabi recently, and unseeded Shahid Aftab, a former national champion, got the top two positions in the Group D.

Fifth seed Sajjad and unseeded Asif Toba progressed to the knockout round from the Group E.  Sixth seed Shahram and unseeded Mohammad Fahim reached the pre-quarters from the Group F.

The competition is wide open in the Group G in which seventh seed Asjad has jeopardised his chances by losing to unseeded Farhan Noor. Both the cueists have a chance of making it to the last 16 as do Majid Ali, Sharjeel Mahmood and Mohammad Jawed.

Unseeded Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir forced his way into the knockout phase from the Group H in which eighth seed Abdul Jawed has a lot to do in order to stay afloat in the event.

Unseeded Sultan Mohammad, a former Pakistan number three, stole the limelight on the penultimate day by chalking up breaks of 91 and 116 in successive frames while taming Haris Tahir 4-1.

Results: Iftikhar Khan (Sindh) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-2 (48-50, 56-35, 64-53, 47-49, 64-57, 72-0); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Saeed Khan (Bal) 4-1 (127-05(82), 42-32, 17-64, 127-9, 64-51); Mohammad Fahim (Pjb) bt Abdul Raziq (Bal) 4-1 (71-25, 20-77, 64-38, 84-38, 50-38); Mohammad Jawed (Pjb) bt Majid Ali (Pjb) 4-0 (80-58, 61-60, 59-49, 75-58); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Jawaid Ansari (Sindh) 4-1 (63-59, 83-21, 76-52, 0-88, 82-21); Mohammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Abdul Raheem (Pjb) 4-1 (70-13, 35-61, 70-21, 54-36, 58-10); Rambail Gul (KP) bt Nadir Miran (Pjb) 4-0 (88-7, 72-58, 62-2, 81-0); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Khurram Agha (Sindh) 4-2 (50-8, 72-8, 20-88, 54-63, 54-40, 64-54); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Haris Tahir (Pjb) 4-2 (65-33, 31-76, 56-23, 12-73, 91-0. 116-8); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Farhan Noor (Pjb) 4-3 (88-19, 59-27, 8-91, 37-69, 15-70, 55-54, 73-44); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Aakash Rafique (KP) 4-1 (71-41, 54-22, 47-70, 89-36, 81-45); Nouman Iqbal (Isb) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-3 (12-75, 45-60, 72-48, 66-37, 42-70, 80-35, 74-38); Ian Mark John (Sindh) bt Mohammad Saqib (Pjb) 4-2 (22-77, 75-44, 11-65, 85-2, 77-37, 68-8); Mohammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-0 (68-39, 64-8, 72-14, 72-9); Nadir Miran (Pjb) bt Hunain Amir (Pjb) 4-3 (42-47, 23-68, 61-54, 20-79, 70-9, 63-0, 65-0); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Saeed Khan (Bal) 4-2 (22-92, 70-67, 65-13, 64-51, 47-58, 80-1); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Abdul Raziq (Bal) 4-1 (55-51, 21-67, 75-10, 71-12, 61-24).