Shahram, Babar, Asif continue impressive run

KARACHI: Shahram Changezi, the prolific cueist from Islamabad, demonstrated his pedigree by toppling both his opponents in straight frames on the third day of the preliminary round matches of Jubilee Insurance 3rd Ranking Cup Snooker Championship 2017 here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Sunday.

The unseeded Shahram blanked eighth seed Sohail Shahzad in straight frames and meted out similar treatment to Mohammad Rafiq, one of the four junior cueists granted direct entry into the competition.

Defending champion Babar Masih continued his march towards glory with two more victories as did Mohammad Asif, a former world champion. There were further setbacks for seeded cueists Mohammad Sajjad, Abdul Sattar and Sohail Shahzad.

Fifth seed Sajjad, two times national champion and a former world number two, has virtually knocked himself out of the championship by suffering three defeats on a trot. After being whacked by Naseem Akhtar, the rising star, he was tamed by Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and Asif.

Eighth seed Sohail has also pushed himself to the brink of elimination by losing to Shahram and Khurram Hussain Agha, after having suffered a defeat on the opening day.The 16-year-old Naseem, who is the current World Under-18 champion, stayed in contention for a place in the knockout phase by overcoming Zulfiqar to register his third victory in five games. He had earlier stunned the seeded duo of Abdul Sattar and Sajjad.

If the results of the first three days matches are taken into account many more upsets appear in the offing on the last couple of days of the preliminary rounds being contested by 28 cueists.

The top two ranked cueists of the country at the end of the event will qualify for the IBSF World Snooker Championship 2017 to be staged at Doha, Qatar, next month. The third cueist will be selected by the PBSA executive committee.

Results: Shahram Changezi (Isb) bt Mohammad Rafiq (KP) 4-0 (77-0, 67-32, 66-18, 61-18); Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) bt Umar Farooq (Pjb) 4-0 (84-43, 68-53, 57-23, 66-33); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) 4-2 (55-1, 65-16, 42-61, 95-25, 20-69, 86-72); Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) 4-2 (83-0, 6-58, 69-24, 56-42, 58-70, 45-12); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-0 (63-51, 62-36, 68-31, 94-30); Abu Saim (Pjb) bt Haris Tahir (Pjb) 4-2 (90-28, 28-71, 78-45, 89-13, 6-63, 64-25); Nadir Miraan (Pjb) bt Shah Khan (KP) 4-2 (86-7, 59-53, 13-80, 58-48, 67-68, 55-20); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Majid Ali (Pjb) 4-2 (73-53, 40-68, 21-74, 69-33, 51-37, 96-0); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-2 (71-23, 70-36, 60-59, 15-87, 28-94, 56-40); Mohammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) 4-0 (73-32, 60-7, 71-45, 80-19); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Mubashir Raza (Pjb) 4-3 (48-63, 56-70, 69-41, 103-1, 52-12, 33-67, 59-0); Mohammad Asif (Pjb) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-1 (67-42, 46-56, 104-1, 76-0, 58-53); Shahram Changezi (Isb) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-0 (79-24, 72-41, 59-37, 82-13); Mohammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) 4-3 (56-73, 82-0, 85-34, 56-65, 129-0, 0-89, 74-16); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Imran Shahzad (Pjb) 4-2 (54-26, 61-14, 36-70, 66-17, 24-96, 94-0); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-2 (45-74, 66-50, 72-30, 9-63, 97-7, 84-0); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Asif Toba (Pjb) 4-3 (32-70, 95-29, 57-31, 35-71, 69-20, 48-78, 82-36); Abu Saim (Pjb) bt Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) 4-0 (74-24, 67-28, 58-41, 55-18); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Shah Khan (KP) 4-0 (68-48, 78-20, 65-10, 32-60, 70-16); Mohammad Asif (Pjb) bt Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) 4-3 (14-100, 87-23, 51-53, 74-53, 64-30, 48-74, 64-16).