Majid routs Mubashir as National Snooker begins

KARACHI: The Jubilee Insurance 43rd National Snooker Championship 2018 got off to a sensational start as Majid Ali, having been awarded wild entry, routed fifth seed Mubashir Raza in the opening session here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Monday.

Imran Shahzad, also a wild card entrant, caused another upset later in the day by taming seventh seed Khurram Hussain Agha, while Sohail Shahzad overpowered Muhammad Sajjad, two times national champion.

Top seed Asjad Iqbal began with a bang as he chalked up a superb break of 120 in the opening frame against Ian Mark John. Eighth seed Babar Masih and unseeded Haris Tahir also registered a century break each.

Second seed Muhammad Asif, a former world champion, survived a scare at the hands of unseeded Sarbuland Khan, while Naseem Akhtar, the reigning World Junior champion, won the contest against Haris Nadeem.

A total of 54 cueists, divided in eight groups, have entered the preliminary round matches to be spread over six days. The top two cueists from each group will advance to the knockout phase starting with the pre-quarter-finals on February 18.

The final will be played on February 21.Six tables, placed in two separate halls, are being used for the preliminary rounds. The larger hall houses four tables with the other have having two tables, allowing six matches to take place simultaneously in each session.

Results: Majid Ali (Pjb) bt Mubashir Raza (Pjb) 4-1 (39-60, 68-04, 69-23, 83-9, 56-14); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Asif Toba (Pjb) 4-3 (66-8, 61-65, 20-78, 92-37, 68-33, 21-51, 89-26); Qadeer Abbas (Pjb) bt Muhammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) 4-2 (19-57, 81-6, 67-28, 57-42, 1-90, 80-10); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) 4-3 (15-59, 7-59, 71-8, 16-86, 59-13, 48-32, 73-57); Muhammad Abdullah (KP) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-3 (41-28, 47-63, 51-63, 67-20, 72-40, 50-41); Saeed Ahmed (Bal) bt Rambail Gul (KP) 4-2 (46-24, 25-65, 64-41, 34-52, 64-24, 66-17); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) 4-2 (57-9, 60-18, 40-55, 61-17, 35-55, 57-16); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) 4-2 (66-18, 54-61, 8-68, 72-34, 62-14, 101-14); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Ahmed Shah (Bal) 4-0 (68-6, 73-9, 58-44, 60-40); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Samiullah (Bal) 4-1 (75-36, 65-34, 74-32, 22-56, 96-0); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-2 (101-11, 8-87, 73-12, 58-49, 47-65, 53-44); Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) bt Haris Tahir (Pjb) 4-3 (40-74, 78-48, 64-0, 37-82, 2-119, 88-76, 66-26); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-1 (120-5, 80-34, 35-65, 68-20, 59-40); Muhammad Asif (Pjb) bt Sarbuland Khan (KP) 4-3 (81-41, 72-33, 51-58, 60-67, 44-67, 61-27, 67-31); Muhammad Imran (KP) bt Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) 4-3 (33-65, 10-50, 70-63, 64-1, 38-66, 67-27, 61-36); Rashid Mahmood Abbasi (Isb) bt Muhammad Umar (Pjb) 4-0 (71-36, 88-34, 51-8, 87-1); Ali Haider (Pjb) bt Jahangir Yar Muhammad (Bal) 4-0 (50-20, 80-18, 64-27, 71-32); Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Haris Nadeem (Sindh) 4-2 (68-47, 0-96, 21-72, 58-53, 98-27, 63-49.

Today’s Fixtures:

Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) v Ali Haider (Pjb); Muhammad Asif (Pjb) v Haris Nadeem (Sindh); Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) v Ian Mark John (Sindh); Muhammad Umar (Pjb) v Sarbuland Khan (KP); Jahangir Yar Muhammad (Bal) v Muhammad Imran (KP); Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) v Rashid Mahmood Abbasi (Isb); Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) v Mahmood Khan (Bal); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) v Saif Ali Khan (Bal); Usman Ahmad (Pjb) v Abdul Javaid (Pjb); Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb) v Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) v Turyali Aziz (Bal); Musaddiq Mahmood (Isb) v Aakash Rafique (KP); Mubashir Raza (Pjb)v Qadeer Abbas (Pjb); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) v Umair Alam (Sindh); Muhammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) v Majid Ali (Pjb); Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) v Asif Toba (Pjb); Muhammad Faizan (Sindh) v Muhammad Abdullah (KP); Awaisullah Munir (Pjb) v Saeed Ahmed (Bal); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) v Ahmed Shah (Bal); Babar Masih (Pjb) v Samiullah (Bal); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) v Imran Shahzad (Pjb); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) v Sharjeel Mahmood (KP); Aamir Shahzad (KP) v Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb); Noman Javed (Isb) v Sultan Muhammad (Sindh); Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) v Aamir Sohail (Pjb); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) v Farhan Noor (Pjb); Usman Ahmad (Pjb) v Mahmood Khan (Bal); Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb) v Saif Ali Khan (Bal).