2nd National Masters (Over-40) Snooker Championship 2018

Yousuf registers century break on day 1

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

KARACHI: Muhammad Yousuf, a former world champion, showed his master class while registering the first century break of the Jubilee Insurance 2nd National Masters (Over-40) Snooker Championship 2018 which cued off at the Champions Snooker Academy in Lahore on Saturday.

According to the details made available by the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), there were as many as three upsets on the opening day as Khurram Hussain Agha, Noman Awan and Saeed Bangulzai, the provincial champions of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan respectively were overpowered by their respective rivals.

The highlight of the day, however, was the classy break of 110 by Yousuf, the only Pakistani to have annexed the world open title as well as the world masters title, during his massive over Arshad Ali Qureshi of Islamabad in straight frames.

Defending champion Imran Shahzad of Punjab began his campaign by toppling the Sindh champion and third seed Khurram Agha of Sindh 3-1 while Faisal Rogatia, an unseeded cueist from Sindh, blew the whistle on third seed Noman Awan and Muhammad Shahid from Punjab outclassed fourth seed Saeed Bangulzai from Balochistan.

A total of 32 cueists, having been divided equally in eight groups, are participating in the preliminary rounds of the championship being organized by the PBSA with the collaboration of Jubilee Insurance Ltd. At the end of the league matches the top two seeds from each group will advance to the knockout phase starting with pre-quarter-finals.

Results: Shahzad Butt (Pjb) bt Mukhtar Khan (Sindh) 3-1 (56-29, 12-50, 64-54, 66-21); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Khurram Agha (Sindh) 3-1 (29-63, 62-54, 65-29, 57-16); Faisal Rogatia (Sindh) bt Noman Awan (Pjb) 3-1 (61-48, 63-33, 35-55, 68-31); M Shahid (Pjb) bt Saeed Bangulzai (Bal) 3-0 (73-9, 68-33, 99-51); M Nadeem (Pjb) bt Ahmed Naqvi (Ibd) 3-0 (55-26, 61-54, 56-7); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt Kh Rizwan (Pjb) 3-2 (41-58, 76-08(71), 31-65, 63-41, 66-36); Fawad Hussain (Pjb) bt Rashid Mahmood (KPK) 3-0 (65-10, 62-15, 54-44); Mujtahid Ali Shah (KPK) bt Sunny Shahani (Sindh) 3-1 (76-7, 50-44, 41-61, 60-32); Saeed Ahmed (Bal) bt Zafar Iqbal (KPK) 3-1 (71-25, 58-59, 62-11, 50-4); Saeed-ur-Rahman (KPK) bt Noor Hussain (Bal) 3-0 (58-9, 58-38, 70-9); Shahid Shafiq (Pjb) bt Manzoor Ahmed (Bal) 3-0 (96-1 70-24, 67-20); Maisam Zadi (Sindh) bt Amanullah (KPK) 3-0 (59-10, 55-32, 46-22); M Yousuf (Sindh) bt Arshad Ali Qureshi (Ibd) 3-0 (69-35, 89-34, 116-16); M Atif Baig (Pjb) bt M Yousuf Jr (Bal) 3-0 (85-24, 56-8, 61-24); Qadeer Butt (Pjb) bt Shadab Baig (Sindh) 3-1 (60-34, 57-29, 42-71, 84-59); Irfan Kareem (KPK) bt Haji Saqib (Bal) 3-0 (78-34, 59-32, 57-48)

Today Fixtures: Saeed Ahmed (Bal) v Mukhtar Khan (Sindh); Saeed-ur-Rahman (KPK) v Imran Shehzad (Pjb); Manzoor Ahmed (Bal) v Faisal Rogatia (Sindh); Maisam Zaidi (Sindh) v M Shahid (Pjb); Qadeer Butt (Pjb) v M Nadeem (Pjb), Irfan Kareem (KPK) v Khawaja Rizwan (Pjb); Arshad Ali Qureshi (Ibd) v Rashid Mahmood (KPK); M Yousuf Jr v (Bal) Sunny Shahani (Sindh); Shahzad Butt (Pjb) v Zafar Iqbal (KPK); Khurram Agha (Sindh) v Noor Hussain (Bal); Noman Awan (Pjb) v Shahid Shafiq (Pjb): Saeed Bangulzai (Bal) v Amanullah (KPK); Ahmed Naqvi (Ibd) v Shadab Baig (Sindh); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) v Haji Saqib (Bal); Fawad Hussain (Pjb) v M Yousuf (Sindh); Mujtahid Ali Shah (KPK) v M Atif Baig (Pjb).