Unseeded cueists shine again

KARACHI: The unseeded trio of Shahram Changezi, Khurram Agha and Babar Masih continued their march towards glory on the third day of preliminary round matches of the National Snooker championship 2015 here on Monday.
Top seed Mohammad Sajjad showed his true colours by chalking up a magnificent break of 131, while eighth seed Asjad Iqbal was downed by Shahid Aftab.
Shahram, a former national champion from Islamabad, extended his purple patch by cleaning up Mohammad Ishtiaq of Sindh 4-1 in their Group E encounter. It was his third win in as many matches. Khurram, who remained the top ranked cueist of the country for the better part of the last decade, also registered his third victory in as many outings by hammering Taufiq Jhori of Sindh 4-1 in their Group A fixture.
Shahid, also a former national champion, caused an upset by routing eighth seed Asjad, which opened up the Group H.
Babar, having been granted a wild card entry in the tournament, consolidated his position in the Group D by winning his third successive match which was against Mohammad Bilal of Punjab.
Top seed Sajjad demonstrated his unmatched prowess by building breaks of 56, 77 and 131 in successive frames against Mahmood Khan of Balochistan in their Group A meeting. The break of 131 remains the highest of the competition so far.
Second seed Imran Shahzad had to bring all his break-building expertise into play to overcome the dangerous Aamir Shahzad of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in their Group B tussle which went to the full distance of seven frames with the former’s breaks of 57, 102 and 59 enabling him to prevent an upset.
Third seed Abdul Sattar faced little difficulty in taming Yasir Nadeem of Islamabad 4-1 in the Group C.
Fourth seed Hamza Akbar meted out similar treatment to Bahadur Khan of Balochistan in the Group D. Defending champion and fifth seed Asif Toba, who had suffered defeat in his opening game in the Group E, recorded his second win in the tournament as he blasted Gul Afzal of Islamabad in straight frames.
Sixth seed Mohammad Asif, a former world champion, defeated Sharjeel Mahmood of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4-2 in a crucial Group F encounter.
Seventh seed Majid Ali kept his unbeaten run intact in the Group G by outwitting Mohammad Faizan of Punjab 4-1.
Results: Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Shah Khan (KP) 4-3 (8-78, 53-60, 58-54, 67-54, 67-45, 31-64, 93-35); Mohammad Sajjad (Pjb) bt Mahmood Khan (Bal) 4-0 (1-0, 85-28, 77-1, 131-0); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Aamir Shahzad (KP) 4-3 (76-14, 102-16, 4-123, 23-72, 78-43, 41-45, 61-1); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Yasir Nadeem (Isb) 4-1 (82-0, 27-66, 66-1, 64-14, 77-41); Hamza Akbar (Pjb) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-1 (47-74, 67-15, 19-55, 69-28, 55-34, 70-42); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Gul Afzal (Isb) 4-0 (61-15, 81-18, 66-16, 106-0); Mohammad Asif (Pjb) bt Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) 4-2 (76-36, 53-74, 84-3, 91-9, 39-65, 89-13); Mohammad Majid Ali (Pjb) bt Mohammad Faizan (Pjb) 4-1 (18-71, 63-11, 66-22, 97-0, 68-36); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) 4-2 (93-11, 58-13, 65-34, 14-70, 23-63, 85-13); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Mohammad Taufiq Jhori (Sindh) 4-1 (88-25, 73-8, 53-64, 61-50, 54-22); Hunain Amir (Pjb) bt Abu Saim (Pjb) 4-0 (62-44, 64-30, 83-24, 75-20); Aakash Rafique (KP) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-0 (66-40, 48-6, 49-44, 70-1); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Mohammad Bilal (Pjb) 4-1 (66-63, 101-21, 127-0, 52-56, 70-33); Shahram Changezi (Isb) bt Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) 4-1 (70-52, 32-69, 61-45, 76-40, 73-30); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Saqib Butt (Pjb) 4-1 (60-18, 82-1, 30-75, 60-17, 63-34); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Shah Khan (KP) 4-3 (64-67, 62-69, 72-33, 65-18, 69-24, 48-61, 67-10); Rambail Gul (KP) bt Nauman Awan (KP) 4-0 (74-19, 63-50, 71-47, 63-30).