Under-21 snooker draws revised

Sindh cueists’ pull-out

KARACHI: Following the pullout of the participants from Sindh, the National Under-21 Snooker Championship 2017 is now being contested by a total of 24 cueists at the PSB Complex in Islamabad.

The Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) confirmed here on Sunday that Sindh’s Mohammad Farid, Ali Zaman Khan, Ahmer Ali, Muzammil Khan, Mohammad Salik, Hamza Ikram, Syed Jawwad Shah and Shaharyar Khan, having checked in at the PSB hostel on Friday, were no longer there and the draws were revised for the last couple of days of preliminary round matches.

The PBSA president Munawwar Hussain Shaikh vowed to go by the book and the players as well as their representative body (Sindh Billiards & Snooker Association) is expected to be issued a show-cause notice shortly.

“I have been in touch with the Tournament Director (Naved Kapadia) as well as with the officials of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), who have been cooperative,” he told ‘The News’ here on Sunday. “I will also be flying out to Islamabad in a couple of days to find out what exactly happened there. We will initiate proceedings about this matter after the tournament,” he said.

SBSA’s honorary secretary Sikander Ali Badruddin said he tried his best to persuade the Sindh cueists to take part in the event even if they had grievances with the organisers. “I am yet not sure about the reasons which prompted this extreme action of pullout. I had given assurance to the boys that the SBSA stood right behind them. Maybe the youngsters were misguided by some people having vested interests,” he said.

With the focus on the dramatic pullout of the Sindh cueists, the youngsters from Punjab continued to dominate the proceedings on the table for the second day running.

Top seeded Naseem Akhtar extended his brilliant form, as did Saud Khan, Usman Ahmed, Haris Khan, Umar Farooq, Mohammad Moez Riaz and Raees Ali Usama.

Results: Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Mohammad Rafiq (KP) 3-0 (63-37, 59-17, 58-50); Fahad Ghaffar (Isb) bt Mohammad Subhan (Bal) 3-0 (49-14, 83-15, 52-26); Saud Khan (Pjb) bt Sohaib Usman (Isb) 3-0 (46-42, 80-49, 64-57); Usman Ahmed (Pjb) bt Usman Khurshid (KP) 3-0 (68-5, 65-23, 73-6); Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Mohammad Azam (KP) 3-0 (61-51, 62-22, 63-30); Umar Farooq (Pjb) bt Mohammad Aftab (Bal) 3-1 (56-24, 61-9, 46-54, 92-27); Mohammad Moez Riaz (Pjb) bt Shaikh Ahmed (KP) 3-0 (84-19, 68-32, 70-15); Raees Ali Usama (Pjb) bt Rabish Perwaiz (Bal) 3-0 (62-14, 65-55, 60-37).

Today’s fixtures: Sohaib Usman (Isb) v Junaid Akhtar (KP); Usman Ahmed (Pjb) v Mohammad Mahmood (Isb); Talal Nawaz (KP) v Rabish Perwaiz (Bal); Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) v Hiskail Bilal (Bal); Mohammad Haris (KP) v Mohammad Aftab (Bal); Zakir Hussain (Bal) v Shaikh Ahmed (KPK); Mohammad Arif (Bal) v Mohammad Azam (KP); Fahad Ghaffar (Isb) v Mohammad Shahbaz (Pjb).