Hamza, Toba in knockouts; Imran, Asjad crash out

KARACHI: Second seed Imran Shahzad and eighth seed Asjad Iqbal failed to reach the knockout phase of the National Snooker championship 2015 despite overcoming their rivals on the final day of preliminary round matches here on Thursday.
Top seed Mohammad Sajjad, third seed Abul Sattar and sixth seed Mohammad Asif had booked their spots in the pre-quarter-finals earlier.
Fourth seed Hamza Akbar, fifth seed Asif Toba and seventh seed Majid Ali proceeded to the last-16 by emerging triumphant in their final league outings.
These six seeded cueists have entered the pre-quarter-finals along with Khurram Hussain Agha, Sultan Mohammad, Rambail Gul, Babar Masih, Shahram Changezi, Hunain Aamir, Mohammad Imran, Aamir Tariq, Aakash Rafique and Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir.
All the eight best-of-nine-frame pre-quarter-finals, which will be spread in three sessions, will be played on Friday (today).
At 11 am, Babar Masih will take on Majid Ali, Shahram Changezi will lock horns with Hunain Aamir and Zulfiqar Qadir will fight with Khurram Agha for seats in the last-eight stage.
At 2 pm, Abdul Sattar will be pitted against Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Imran will battle it out against Aamir Tariq and Hamza Akbar will be up against Asif Toba for reaching the quarter-finals.
At 5 pm, Aakash Rafique will be in action against Sultan Muhammad and Mohammad Sajjad will combat Rambail Gul to be among the eight players in the next phase of the tournament.
Second seed Imran Shahzad bowed out of the competition in an unfortunate manner after having been tied at points as well as frame difference with Hunain Aamir and Aamir Tariq in the Group B.
A draw was taken out to determine the group champion in which Aamir Tariq was the lucky winner, while the remaining two, Imran Shahzad and Hunain Aamir, played out a one-frame decider in which the latter triumphed and it was all over for the veteran cueist.
Eighth seed Asjad Iqbal was also unsuccessful in reaching the pre-quarter-finals from Group H even after edging out Rambail Gul, who qualified for the last 16, in their fiercely fought league encounter on Friday.
Zulfiqar Qadir was the other cueist from the group to advance to the next round.
Defending champion and fifth seed Asif Toba managed to enter the knockout phase when he outwitted Shahram Changezi, who had remained undefeated in his earlier four matches of the league phase.
Seventh seed Majid Ali succeeded in qualifying for the pre-quarters despite losing to Sohail Shahzad on the final day of league matches.
Results:
Mohammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Mohammad Fahim (Pjb) 4-1 (110-5, 66-24, 55-65, 109-16, 60-44); Ahsan Javed (Pjb) bt Farhan Khan (KPK) 4-3 (57-22, 18-48, 91-7, 79-0, 10-61, 16-76, 37-73); Uzair Aziz (Sindh) bt Jahangir Bungulzai (Bal) 4-0 (walkover); Mohammad Imran (Pjb) bt Saeed Ahmed (Bal) 4-0 (walkover); Zulfiqar Qadir (Sindh) bt Rambail Gul (KPK) 4-3 (42-64, 89-11, 22-59, 68-21, 90-8, 39-64, 74-5); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Shahram Changezi (Isb) 4-2 (57-65, 14-121, 104-2, 92-5, 72-25, 77-0); Mohammad Asif (Pjb) Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-2 (26-69, 60-4, 43-63, 88-9, 63-19, 40-70); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Pjb) 4-2 (76-69, 64-56, 9-59, 23-72, 71-22, 102-0); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Rambail Gul (KPK) 4-3 (2-26, 77-0, 87-30, 104-10, 5-69, 53-88, 61-36); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Nauman Awan (KPK) 4-0 (61-18, 62-47, 81-18, 82-15); Mohammad Sajjad (Pjb) bt Khurram Agha (Sindh) 4-3 (39-62, 25-78, 49-62, 72-0, 75-1, 74-8, 72-9); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Abu Saim (Pjb) 4-2 (62-18, 40-50, 75-56, 27-83, 79-11, 67-29); Aakash Rafique (KPK) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-1 (15-101, 62-60, 69-5, 80-53, 61-23); Hamza Akbar (Pjb) Mohammad Bilal (Pjb) 4-1 (69-19, 69-62, 88-34, 39-77, 78-57).