Shah stuns Yousuf as National Masters Snooker begins

KARACHI: Shah Khan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stunned former world champion Mohammad Yousuf on the opening day of the inaugural Jubilee Insurance National Masters Snooker Championship 2017 at the Champions Snooker Academy in Lahore on Saturday.

According to the details made available by the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association, Shah Khan blanked Mohammad Yousuf, the only Pakistani to win the World Masters title, in straight frames, while another fancied cueist, Naveen Kumar Perwani, survived a scare at the hands of Waheed Ahmed.

Imran Shahzad, signing off with a classy break of 58, began his campaign on a winning note as he outwitted the dangerous Khurram Hussain Agha, who had fared very well in the recently concluded National Snooker Championship in Karachi.

Mirza Shadab Baig from Sindh edged out Azhar Khan of Punjab after a five-frame thriller, while Noman Awan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Saeed Ahmed of Balochistan and Saeed-ur-Rahman of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won five-frame battles against Azhar Khan of Punjab, Mohammad Shahid of Punjab) and Aamir Samdani of Sindh, respectively.

A total of 32 cueists from all over the country, having crossed the age of 40, entered the tournament. They have been divided in eight groups for the preliminary rounds at the end of which top two cueists from each group will be advancing to the pre-quarter-finals.

The preliminary round matches, spread over three days on a trot, will be finishing on Monday (tomorrow) and the knockout phase will start with the pre-quarter-finals on Tuesday. The best of 11-frame final is scheduled to be held on Friday.

Results:

Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) 3-1 (55-69, 53-24, 58-54, 72-22); Naveen Kumar Perwani (Sindh) bt Waheed Ahmed (Pjb) 3-2 (33-65, 77-84, 60-26, 57-29, 68-23); Shah Khan (KP) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) 3-0 (82-10, 60-12, 55-7); Aamir Sohail (Pjb) bt Mahmood Khan (Bal) 3-1 (62-41, 73-69, 33-77, 73-51);  Chaudhry Shahzad Mahmood (Isb) bt Zaheeruddin Babar (KP) 3-0 (60-32, 76-10, 51-11);  Mirza Shadab Baig (Sindh) bt Azhar Khan (Pjb) 3-2 (41-73, 66-26, 65-16, 9-48, 37-29); Shadzad Butt (Pjb) bt Yousuf Khan (KP) 3-0 (64-21, 78-34, 53-21); Noman Awan (KP) bt Sunil Samuel Shahani (Sindh) 3-2 (45-96, 80-1, 83-48, 38-82, 89-18); Saqib Bashir (Bal) bt Amanullah (KP) 3-1 (28-56, 75-39, 76-16, 72-19); Rashid Mahmood (KP) bt Akhtar Mohammad (Bal) 3-0 (65-31, 72-32, 89-7);  Saeed Ahmed (Bal) bt Mohammad Shahid (Pjb) 3-2 (12-68, 39-52, 70-8, 64-30, 68-28); Saeed-ur-Rahman (KP) bt Aamir Samdani (Sindh) 3-2 (67-22, 17-58, 43-55, 49-31, 63-43).