Unseeded Khurramstorms into quarters

KARACHI: Unseeded Khurram Hussain Agha stormed into the quarter-finals of Jubilee Insurance 3rd Ranking Cup Snooker Championship 2017 by stunning top seeded Asjad Iqbal on the penultimate day of league matches here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Monday.

Unseeded Mohammad Asif and Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir also advanced to the quarter-finals, causing early elimination of fourth seed Abdul Sattar and fifth seed Mohammad Sajjad in the Group D.

Five slots are still up for the grabs.

From the Group A, besides Khurram, Shahram Changezi is most likely to reach the last-eight stage. Shahram won both his matches on Monday ahead of top seeded Asjad.

Shahram extended his glorious form to register his fourth successive victory as he overpowered Asif Toba and Agha Bilawal with hints of conviction.

Defending champion Babar Masih suffered his first defeat of the competition at the hands of third seed Mohammad Ijaz but he stayed in contention for a place in the quarter-finals from the Group C.

Unseeded Mohammad Ishtiaq shocked second seed Shahid Aftab to jeopardise the latter’s chances of qualifying for the knockout rounds. The former national champion was edged out after a marathon seven-frame encounter.

Ahsan Javaid, another unseeded cueist, played well to win both his matches to inch closer towards claiming quarter-final berth from the Group B.

Results: Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (10-59, 78-27, 17-69, 60-52, 64-34, 57-16); Mohammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Haris Tahir (Pjb) 4-2 (84-14, 46-55, 64-27, 57-15, 7-75, 66-11); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Nadir Miraan (Pjb) 4-3 (42-5, 43-74, 55-22, 11-61, 65-14, 31-65, 79-0); Majid Ali (Pjb) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-0 (83-45, 62-24, 76-10, 60-58); Shahram Changezi (Isb) bt Asif Toba (Pjb) 4-2 (32-67, 78-36, 65-50, 61-51, 13-49, 66-57); Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) bt Abu Saim (Pjb) 4-1 (96-7, 62-54, 82-52, 40-60, 70-29); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Shah Khan (KP) 4-2 (63-27(63), 72-26, 25-55, 44-5, 48-65, 79-2); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) 4-2 (58-57, 44-77, 58-12, 67-53, 51-59, 121-0); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) 4-2 (74-30, 13-55, 89-1, 69-50, 16-83, 64-16); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) bt Shahid Aftab (Pjb) 4-3 (19-79, 0-48, 70-118, 87-24, 23-54, 100-0, 62-14); Mohammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Babar Masih (Pjb) 4-1 (69-26, 119-6, 72-29, 12-76, 39-10); Mohammad Asif (Pjb) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-1 (63-31, 70-0, 80-22, 30-72, 61-57); Shahram Changezi (Isb) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-0 (64-33, 108-18, 64-53, 61-20); Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) bt Haris Tahir (Pjb) 4-2 (55-64, 60-69, 77-35, 72-57, 84-22, 78-40); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Nadir Miraan (Pjb) 4-1 (47-25, 65-29, 30-88, 79-30, 66-53); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Majid Ali (Pjb) 4-3 (34-61, 78-55, 46-74, 87-51, 37-87, 96-45, 68-0); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Mohammad Rafiq (KP) 4-1 (73-12, 56-44, 46-14, 43-45, 62-1); Abu Saim (Pjb) bt Umar Farooq (Pjb) 4-2 (70-42, 32-83, 9-79, 67-58, 57-38, 70-21); Shah Khan (KP) bt Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) 4-1 (0-93, 59-30, 65-27, 69-38, 73-48); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) 4-3 (22-61, 51-13, 33-63, 44-67, 63-14, 66-12, 51-21); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (81-0, 64-32, 0-110, 83-05, 25-56, 64-1); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Haris Tahir (Pjb) 4-1 (90-0, 58-67, 63-40, 65-5, 63-26); Mohammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Nadir Miraan (Pjb) 4-0 (59-54, 59-50, 71-20, 69-0); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Majid Ali (Pjb) 4-1 (23-49, 58-24, 85-13(59), 102-0, 50-30).