Defending champion Toba out of National Snooker

KARACHI: As many as three seeded cueists, including defending champion Asif Toba, were eliminated in the pre-quarter-finals of the National Snooker championship 2015 here on Friday.
Third seed Abdul Sattar and seventh seed Majid Ali also crashed out, with only top seed Mohammad Sajjad, fourth seed Hamza Akbar and sixth seed Mohammad Asif succeeding in advancing to the quarter-finals.
The seeded duo of Imran Shahzad and Asjad Iqbal had failed to reach the knockout phase.
Five unseeded cueists, Shahram Changezi, Khurram Hussain Agha, Babar Masih, Mohammad Imran and Aakash Rafique, have forced their way into the last-eight stage.
All the four best-of-nine-frame quarter-finals, to be spread in a couple of sessions, will be contested on Saturday (today).
At 12 noon, Punjab’s Babar Masih will take on Shahram Changezi of Islamabad and Khurram Agha of Sindh will battle it out with Mohammad Asif of Punjab.
At 2:30 pm, Mohammad Imran and Hamza Akbar will lock horns in an all-Punjab encounter, while Mohammad Sajjad of Punjab will be clashing against Aakash Rafique of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Babar Masih, who was granted wild card entry in the event, extended his brilliant form to outwit seventh seed Majid Ali, acclaimed as one of the most talented young cueists in the world, after an absorbing duel which went to the full distance of nine frames.
Sixth seed Mohammad Asif, a former world champion, routed third seed Abdul Sattar in straight frames. There was some fight in the first couple of frames but it turned into one-way traffic after Asif fired breaks of 69 and 61 in successive frames.
Fourth seed Hamza Akbar dethroned fifth seed Asif Toba by clinching four frames on the trot after having conceded two of the first three frames. The breaks of 56 and 54 allowed Hamza to dominate the proceedings after his opponent had chalked up a break of 57 in the opening frame.
Top seed Mohammad Sajjad was in fine form as he thrashed the dangerous Rambail Gul 5-1. He signed off with a classy break of 88 in the sixth frame after having made one of 66 in the second frame.
Shahram Changezi, a former national champion from Islamabad, showed the glimpses of his majestic form as he compiled breaks of 109 and 79 during the course of his 5-1 victory over Hunain Aamir.
Khurram Agha, another former national champion, continued his march towards glory by whipping Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir 5-1. The veteran cueist demonstrated his class by building a break of 51 in the closely fought second frame, while another of 64 allowed him to wrap up the issue in six frames.
Mohammad Imran proved too good for Aamir Tariq, hammering him in straight frames, while Aakash Rafique overcame Sultan Muhammad to secure his place in the quarter-finals.
Pre-quarter-finals: Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Majid Ali (Pjb) 5-4 (0-105, 71-25, 68-2, 10-83, 50-51, 56-34, 40-72, 55-53, 68-1); Shahram Changezi (Isb) bt Hunain Amir (Pjb) 5-1 (32-60, 109-0, 78-22, 81-8, 93-5, 66-45); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Zulfiqar Qadir (Sindh) 5-1 (75-2, 65-46, 53-2, 64-31, 64-1); Mohammad Asif (Pjb) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 5-0 (68-43, 77-39, 83-0, 131-0, 84-0); Mohammad Imran (Pjb) bt Aamir Tariq (Pjb) 5-0 (74-9, 69-38, 65-49, 73-31, 57-8); Hamza Akbar (Pjb) bt Asif Toba (Pjb) 5-2 (28-64, 71-7, 1-54, 61-6, 79-46, 96-11, 63-7); Mohammad Sajjad (Pjb) bt Rambail Gul (KP) 5-1 (78-28, 74-47, 65-41, 0-93, 88-13, 93-1); Aakash Rafique (KP) bt Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) 5-2 (61-34, 35-63, 63-22, 73-10, 53-8, 5-86, 65-8)