National Snooker off to dramatic start

KARACHI: The Jubilee Insurance 43rd National Snooker Championship 2018 got off to a sensational start as Muhammad 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 while eighth seed Babar Masih and unseeded Haris Tahir also registered a century break. Second seed Muhammad Asif, a former world champion, survived a scare at the hands of unseeded Sarbuland Khan while Muhammad Naseem Akhtar, the reigning World Junior champion, won the contest against Muhammad Haris Nadeem.

A total of 54 cueists, having been 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 while the event will conclude with the final and the prize distribution ceremony 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: Muhammad Majid Ali (Pjb) bt Mubashir Raza (Pjb) 4-1 (39-60, 68-4, 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 Ishtaiq (Sindh) 4-2 (19-57, 81-6, 67-28, 57-42, 1-90, 80-10); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Muhammad 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 Muhammad 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); Muhammad Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Muhammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh) 4-2 (68-47, 0-96, 21-72, 58-53, 98-27, 63-49.