Naveen, Imran extend unbeaten run

KARACHI: Naveen Kumar Perwani and Imran Shahzad extended their unbeaten run in the inaugural Jubilee Insurance National Masters Snooker Championship 2017 on the second day of league matches at the Champions Snooker Academy in Lahore on Sunday.

According to the details made available by the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), Naveen of Sindh registered his second successive victory by demolishing Akhtar Mohammad of Balochistan in straight frames.  Imran Shahzad of Punjab won his second game by overpowering Amanullah of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 3-1.

Mohammad Yousuf, the only Pakistani to have won the World Masters title, came back in the reckoning by whipping Saeed Ahmed of Balocishtan 3-1 after being routed by Shah Khan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the opening game.

Khurram Hussain Agha of Sindh, who was tamed by Imran Shahzad in his first game, returned to winning ways by toppling Saqib Bashir of Balochistan 3-1, firing breaks of 55 and 52 in successive frames.

Azhar Khan of Punjab edged out Syed Mujtahid Ali Shah of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Yousuf Khan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Arshad Ali Qureshi of Islamabad. Both these matches went to the full distance of five frames.

As many as 32 cueists, over the age of 40, are contesting the tournament whose preliminary round matches will conclude on Monday (today).

The top two cueists from each group will progress to the pre-quarter-finals on Tuesday (tomorrow).

The best-of-11-frame final will be held on Friday.

Results: Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Saqib Bashir (Bal) 3-1 (52-43, 32-90, 84-10, 74-15); Waheed Ahmed (Pjb) bt Rashid Mahmood (KP) 3-1 (23-91, 78-26, 73-41, 99-10); Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) bt Saeed Ahmed (Bal) 3-1 (33-59, 54-31, 53-36, 62-20); Aamir Sohail (Pjb) bt Amir Samdani (Sindh) 3-1 (61-50, 70-14, 53-65, 57-37); Atif Mughal (Pjb) bt Zaheeruddin Babar (KP) 3-0 (64-37, 47-44, 50-20); Azhar Khan (Pjb) bt Syed Mujtahid Ali Shah (KP) 3-2 (46-56, 39-53, 58-53, 60-19, 82-37); Yousuf Khan (KP) bt Arshad Ali Qureshi (Isb) 3-2 (71-57, 2-80, 70-45, 51-56, 73-30); Sunil Samuel Shahani (Sindh) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Jr) (Bal) 3-0 (60-7, 48-42, 59-36); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Amanullah (KP) 3-1 (72-7, 70-7, 58-69, 81-13); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt Akhtar Mohammad  (Bal) 3-0 (53-25, 56-11, 70-31); Shah Khan (KP) bt Mohammad Shahid (Pjb) 3-1 (50-62, 65-56, 81-20, 59-26); Mahmood Khan (Bal) bt Saeed-ur-Rahman (KP) 3-1 (90-45, 33-66, 103-0, 50-31); Naseem Paracha (Sindh) bt Atif Mughal (Pjb) 3-1 (43-39, 52-26, 56-75, 70-7); Syed Mujtahid Ali Shah (KP) bt Saeed Baloch (Bal) 3-1 (51-55, 50-20, 59-25, 58-20); Mukhtar Khan (Sindh) bt Arshad Ali Qureshi (Isb) 3-1 (62-59, 8-81, 62-21, 58-44); Mohammad Nadeem (Pjb) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Jr) (Bal) 3-0 (71-28, 65-56, 66-19).