Seeded cueists stunned in National Snooker

KARACHI: Seventh seed Mohammad Majid Ali and eighth seed Asjad Iqbal were routed by unseeded rivals on the fourth day of preliminary round matches of the Jubilee Insurance 40th National Snooker Championship 2015 here at the Movenpick Hotel on Tuesday.
Mohammad Imran of Punjab floored Majid Ali 4-2 in Group E, while Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir of Sindh stunned Asjad Iqbal in Group F to endanger both the seeded cueists’ qualification for the knockout phase of the competition.
There were further glories for the unseeded trio of Shahram Changezi, Rambail Gul and Babar Masih and they appeared almost certain to storm into the pre-quarter-finals, if there are no major upsets on the last couple of days of the league matches of the championship.
Shahram Changezi, a former national champion from Islamabad, made it four out of four by toppling Gul Afzal, also from Islamabad, in their Group E encounter.
Babar Masih, having been granted a wild card entry in the tournament, continued to lead the points table in the Group D, by winning his fourth successive match which was against Mohammad Fahim of Punjab.
Fourth seed Hamza Akbar also stayed in the hunt for the last 16 from the Group D as he outclassed Mohammad Ijaz of Punjab 4-1.
Rambail Gul, an enigmatic cueist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, edged out Shahid Aftab, a former national champion, after a grueling seven-frame battle to inch closer towards confirming his slot in the pre-quarter-finals from the Group H.
Defending champion and fifth seed Asif Toba, having suffered defeat in his opening game in Group E, registered his second win in the tournament by overpowering Farhan Khan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Sixth seed Mohammad Asif, a former world champion, was awarded a walkover against Jahangir Bangulzai of Balochistan who failed to turn at the venue. Mahmood Khan, also from Balochistan, was the other cueist to have conceded a walkover with Nauman Iqbal of Islamabad being the beneficiary.
Results: Noman Iqbal (Isb) bt Mahmood Khan (Bal) 4-0 (walk over); Amir Tariq (Pjb) bt Amir Shahzad (KPK) 4-3 (32-48, 44-70, 77-31, 24-62, 51-41, 59-8, 64-39); Yasir Nadeem (Isb) bt Abdul Rahim (Pjb) 4-3 (52-73, 70-13, 50-62, 46-50, 74-48, 75-50, 96-6); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Mohammad Fahim (Pjb) 4-1 (72-0, 38-70, 62-37, 62-11, 59-48); Zulfiqar Qadir (Sindh) bt Shahid Aftab (Pjb) 4-0 (104-31, 72-14, 94-31, 67-20); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) bt Ahsan Javed (Pjb) 4-0 (86-40, 76-52, 66-16, 60-28); Uzair Aziz (Sindh) bt Saqib Butt (Pjb) 4-2 (70-58, 7-82, 54-15, 20-66, 55-38, 66-24); Shah Khan (KPK) bt Saeed Ahmed (Bal) 4-1 (62-7, 21-57, 67-52, 53-16, 50-20); Sarbuland Khan (KPK) bt Noman Awan (KPK) 4-2 (35-58, 60-03, 66-47, 105-20, 14-65, 63-34); Mohammad Bilal (KPK) bt Bahadur Khan 4-0 (69-28, 76-23, 77-9, 72-28); Shahram Changezi (Isb) bt Gul Afzal (Isb) 4-1 (67-40, 101-14, 67-22, 23-75, 67-35); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Sharjeel Mahmood (KPK) 4-0 (73-45, 121-14, 91-5, 75-8); Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-2 (84-12, 97-2, 44-51, 72-23, 20-72, 66-22); Rambail Gul (KPK) bt Shahid Aftab (Pjb) 4-3 (28-72, 43-80, 87-52, 8-61, 57-23, 61-47, 67-0); Hamza Akbar (Pjb) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Pjb) 4-1 (90-11, 51-86, 73-49, 68-1, 68-35); Asif Toba (Pjb) Farhan Khan (KPK) 4-1 (78-34, 30-67, 73-34, 58-15, 81-10); Mohammad Asif (Pjb) bt Jahangir Bangulzai (Bal) 4-0 (walkover); Mohammad Imran (Pjb) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Pjb) 4-2 (83-19, 64-13, 50-71, 64-41, 33-60, 67-20); Zulfiqar Qadir (Sindh) bt Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) 4-1 (69-23, 63-51, 60-66, 60-56, 65-21).