Seeded cueists fall in NBP Ranking Snooker

KARACHI: After a flurry of upsets, the seeded quintet of Mohammad Sajjad, Khurram Hussain Agha, Nadir Miran, Mohammad Ahsan Javaid and Shahram Changezi crashed out of the 9th NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2017 whose preliminary round matches concluded here at the NBP Sports Complex in Clifton on Friday.

Asjad Iqbal, Shahid Aftab and Sohail Shahzad were the only seeded cueists to have progressed to the knockout rounds which commences with the pre-quarter-finals on Saturday (today).

All the eight pre-quarters will be played today. In the opening session, due to get underway at 10:00am, Agha Bilawal (Sindh) will take on Abdul Sattar (Sindh), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) will lock horns with Babar Masih (Punjab), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) will clash with Shah Khan (Khyber Pakthunkhwa) while Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) will tackle Mubashir Raza (Punjab).

The afternoon session, scheduled to start at 01:00pm, will also have four matches simultaneously as Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) will be in action against Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab), Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) will confront Haris Tahir (Punjab), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) will compete against Sharjeel Mahmood (Khyber Pakthunkhwa) and Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) will battle it out against Mohammad Asif (Punjab).

Top seeded Mohammad Sajjad failed to advance to the next round after succumbing to defeat at the hands of unseeded Mohammad Ishtiaq who advanced to the last 16 from the Group A along with Agha Bilawal, another promising local cueist.

Second seed Asjad Iqbal, however, secured his place into the pre-quarter-finals despite losing to unseeded Mubashir Raza who emerged as the Group B champion.

Third seed Khurram Agha could not force his way into the knockout rounds from the Group C in which the unseeded duo of Haris Tahir and Abdul Sattar shared the top two positions.

There was no place in the last 16 for the fourth seed Nadir Miran either as the unseeded cueists Mohammad Majid Ali and Shah Khan secured the two slots from the Group D.

Fifth seed Shahid Aftab succeeded in forcing his way into the last 16 from the Group E and he was joined by unseeded Mohammad Ijaz. Sixth seed Sohail Shahzad made it to pre-quarters despite losing to the defending champion Mohammad Asif, who topped the Group F.

As expected there was no space for seventh seed Mohammad Ahsan Javaid from the Group G in which the experienced duo of Babar Masih and Sharjeel Mahmood occupied top positions.

Similarly, there was no opening available for eighth seed Shahram Changezi in Group H with the unseeded duo of Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and Mohammad Bilal snatching the two slots.

Results: Mohammad Saqib (Punjab) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-1 (33-67, 62-23, 45-44, 1-0, 1-0); Aakash Rafique (KPK) bt Abu Saim (Pjb) 4-3 (50-52, 64-27, 67-77, 39-64, 69-9, 85-12, 78-17); Sharjeel Mahmood (KPK) Asif Toba (Pjb) 4-2 (71-25, 25-95, 63-11, 34-83, 68-49, 60-39); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) 4-1 (63-16, 65-15, 52-21, 40-65, 65-24); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-2 (37-64, 70-63, 9-60, 49-44, 75-30, 85-28); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-3 (0-96, 44-76, 44-81, 62-57, 98-0, 57-2, 70-28); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) 4-1 (56-54, 56-4, 34-68, 133-11, 56-14); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Shahram Changezi (Isb) 4-2 (65-31, 32-76, 125-0, 64-43, 55-66, 59-18); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-2 (46-63, 58-51, 71-48, 1-100, 56-48, 49-15); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) 4-2 (69-32, 3-47, 72-38, 91-1, 48-62, 89-20); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) 4-1 (70-49, 84-5, 49-58, 59-42, 70-27); Imran Shahzad (Punjab) bt Nadir Miraan (Pjb) 4-2 (66-0, 15-68, 32-93, 61-9, 70-56, 64-35).