Unseeded Aakash stuns Shahid in National Snooker

KARACHI: Unseeded Aakash Rafique caused an upset by blasting fourth seed Shahid Aftab on the third day of league matches of the National Snooker Championship here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Wednesday.

Asjad Iqbal, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Bilal, Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and Babar Masih extended their unbeaten run. Mubashir Raza and Khurram Hussain Agha, having been at the receiving end in the earlier matches, came back in the reckoning, overpowering their respective rivals.

Asjad and Muhammad Imran share the top position in the Group A. Muhammad Asif and Naseem Akhtar have done the same in the Group B.Bilal has virtually ensured his place in the pre-quarter-finals from the Group C by having won his first four matches. Usman Ahmed is second with three wins from four outings.

Aakash tops the Group D with three victories in as many games. Qadeer Abbas leads the chart in the Group E with three straight wins.Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir is at the top in the Group F with three wins on a trot. Abdul Sattar tops the Group G. Babar Masih tops the Group F.

Results: Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Muhammad Imran (KP) 4-1 (29-60, 80-43, 79-15, 73-1, 61-13); Muhammad Asif (Pjb) bt Rashid Mahmood Abbasi (Isb) 4-1 (95-20, 8-64, 60-31, 49-22, 68-29); Ali Haider (Pjb) bt Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) 4-0 (63-37, 66-52, 86-48, 78-37); Muhammad Umar (Pjb) bt Haris Nadeem (Sindh) 4-2 (63-29, 32-76, 47-73, 68-37, 82-19, 64-56); Ian Mark John (Sindh) bt Jahangir Yar Muhammad (Bal) 4-0 (walkover); Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Sirbuland Khan (KP) 4-3 (41-64, 57-34, 64-40, 68-22, 16-63, 47-52, 68-40); Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Turyali Aziz (Bal) 4-1 (109-0, 105-13, 49-74, 81-22, 78-33); Aakash Rafiq (KP) bt Shahid Aftab (Pjb) 4-1 (54-40, 67-28, 0-95, 74-37, 69-30); Usman Ahmad (Pjb) bt Aamir Sohail (KP) 4-0 (69-55, 75-6, 59-46, 55-41); Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb) bt Farhan Noor (Pjb) 4-0 (78-38, 69-28, 65-58, 62-55); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Mahmood Khan (Bal) 4-0 (76-1, 44-14, 66-03, 1-0); Musaddiq Mahmood (Isb) bt Saif Ali Khan (Bal) 4-1 (46-57, 60-11, 51-28, 63-30, 57-23); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Muhammad Abdullah (KP) 4-1 (75-13, 76-10, 45-61, 99-1, 65-56); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Saeed Ahmed (Bal) 4-2 (28-62, 72-14, 58-52, 64-68, 63-31, 60-4); Muhammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Muhammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) 4-1 (8-86, 64-52, 57-22, 45-15, 1-0); Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) bt Awaisullah (Pjb) 4-2 (85-47, 61-38, 71-52, 2-69, 5-71, 59-45); Qadeer Abbas (Pjb) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-1 (54-63, 77-6, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0); Rambail Gul (KP) bt Umair Alam (Sindh) 4-1 (20-38, 69-28, 63-58, 69-55, 60-14); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Imran Shahzad (Pjb) 4-2 (7-83, 67-40, 90-21, 46-63, 76-08, 55-27); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) 4-3 (27-93, 82-41, 81-79, 78-48, 12-79, 13-69, 67-27); Aamir Shahzad (KP) bt Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-2 (34-81, 55-15, 70-30, 24-64, 61-8, 54-46); Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) bt Noman Javed (Isb) 4-3 (78-22, 42-58, 51-52, 71-51, 10-79, 118-4, 76-48); Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Aamir Sohail (Pjb) 4-0 (58-44, 77-45, 67-39, 65-5); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Farhan Noor (Pjb) 4-3 (46-59, 71-60, 40-54, 5-64, 66-52, 46-41, 72-9); Usman Ahmad (Pjb) bt Mahmood Khan (Bal) 4-0 (71-46, 68-53, 76-15, 51-26); Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb) bt Saif Ali Khan (Bal) 4-0 (64-33, 60-8, 70-52, 62-12).