Zulfiqar out of National Snooker Championship

KARACHI: Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir was the solitary seeded cueist who failed to qualify for the knockout phase of the Jubilee Insurance 42nd National Snooker Championship, whose league matches concluded here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Friday.

The seven seeded cueists who made it to the pre-quarter-finals are Mohammad Bilal, Babar Masih, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sajjad, Sohail Shahzad, Shahram Changezi and Asjad Iqbal.

The unseeded ones who have advanced are Imran Shahzad, Ahsan Javaid, Mohammad Ijaz, Shahid Aftab, Mohammad Ishtiaq, Nadir Miran, Mubashir Raza, Abdul Sattar and Khurram Hussain Agha.

All the pre-quarter-finals will be held on Saturday (today). In the morning session, due to start at 10am, Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) will take on Imran Shahzad (Punjab), Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) will clash with Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) will combat Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) and Nadir Miran (Punjab) will lock horns with Babar Masih (Punjab).

In the afternoon session, scheduled to commence at 1pm, Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) will be pitted against Mubashir Raza (Punjab), Abdul Sattar (Sindh) will face Sohail Shahzad (Sindh), Mohammad Asif (Punjab) will tackle Khurram Agha (Sindh) and Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) will be up against Mohammad Bilal (Punjab).

A record number of 175 matches were played in the preliminary round over six days.

Defending champion and top seed Mohammad Bilal and wild card entrant Ahsan Javaid progressed to the next round from the Group A, while second seed Babar Masih and qualifier Khurram Agha made it to the pre-quarter-finals from the Group B.

Third seed Mohammad Asif and unseeded Imran Shahzad shared the top two slots in the Group C, while fourth seed Mohammad Sajjad and unseeded Mohammad Ishtiaq got through from the Group D.

Fifth seed Sohail Shahzad and qualifier Nadir Miran booked the last-16 slots from the Group E, while unseeded Mohammad Ijaz and Abdul Sattar shared the top two positions in the Group F, ahead of sixth seed Zulfiqar Qadir.

Shahram Changezi qualified for the pre-quarters from the Group G in which unseeded Shahid Aftab, a former national champion, emerged as the topper.

Eighth seed Asjad Iqbal became the Group H champion with unseeded Mubashir Raza finishing as the runner-up.

Results: Nadir Miran (Pjb) bt Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) 4-3 (64-25, 67-12, 45-65, 80-13, 09-73, 15-93, 66-33); Hunain Aamir (Pjb) bt Ahmed Shah (Bal) 4-0 (57-33, 74-24, 72-14, 69-31); Aamir Shehzad (Pjb) bt Umair Zulfiqar (Isb) 4-0 (57-43, 59-29, 58-35, 75-17); Uzair Aziz (Sindh) bt Allah Noor (Bal) 4-3 (61-41, 32-62, 62-50, 85-38, 35-59, 33-65, 57-48); Aakash Rafique (KP) bt Musaddiq Mehmood (Isb) 4-2 (49-52, 44-59, 69-17, 64-09, 116-1, 68-0); Fawad Khan (KP) bt Khurram Agha (Sindh) 4-3 (13-69, 23-58, 53-35, 0-103, 72-1, 68-26, 57-36); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-0 (67-9, 58-8, 77-0, 62-25); Mohammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Umar Farooq (Pjb) 4-0 (65-17, 62-41, 56-46, 83-11); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Mohammad Rafiq (KP) 4-0 (71-27, 55-32, 82-13, 105-14); Mohammad Asif (Pjb) bt Haris Tahir (Pjb) 4-1 (75-25, 137-0, 70-1, 7-73, 8-68); Mohammad Sajjad (Pjb) bt Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) 4-2 (62-22, 46-61, 65-22, 40-61, 53-20, 76-24); Abu Saim (Pjb) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-3 (34-69, 76-15, 72-9, 13-64, 62-6, 2-59, 62-16); Mohammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) 4-3 (15-91, 68-0, 61-0, 33-75, 0-80, 56-23, 67-7); Shahid Aftab (Isb) bt Shahram Changezi (Isb) 4-1 (76-34, 81-22, 23-48, 72-9, 60-15); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) 4-1 (66-42, 47-67, 60-34, 68-51, 59-51); Munawwar Khaliq (Isb) bt Naeem Jaffar (Bal) 4-0 (73-31, 60-33, 20-27, 76-9); Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Shaikh Mohammad Mudassir (Pjb) 4-2 (52-70, 61-32, 65-1, 75-19, 0-91, 61-37); Shah Khan (KP) bt Hunain Aamir (Pjb) 4-2 (90-0, 68-41, 48-80, 18-48, 62-0, 73-12); Farhan Noor (Pjb) bt Allah Noor (Bal) 4-0 (67-38, 57-22, 108-9, 58-8); Majid Ali (Pjb) bt Zahoor Ahmed (Bal) 4-2 (117-0, 8-75, 77-53, 117-0, 53-59, 76-24); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Saeed Ahmed (Bal) 4-0 (79-20, 63-47, 69-2, 99-0); Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) bt Mohammad Imran (KP) 4-3 (54-61, 68-46, 4-78, 77-17, 56-34, 30-58, 67-56); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) bt Farhan Khan (KP) 4-0 (70-31, 103-24, 79-54, 113-8); Nadir Miran (Pjb) bt Abdul Raziq (Bal) 4-3 (74-22, 36-50, 55-51, 35-71, 77-48, 58-66, 59-24); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Ahmed Shah (Bal) 4-0 (92-0, 74-51, 90-7, 67-26); Aamir Shahzad (Pjb) bt Mohammad Afzal (Pjb) 4-1 (65-0, 82-61, 14-63, 62-60, 64-42); Amir Sohail (KP) bt Uzair Aziz (Sindh) 4-3 (31-66, 26-83, 76-2, 61-33, 11-56, 65-26, 55-2).