Unseeded Naseem stuns Asif to move into pre-quarters

KARACHI: Unseeded Muhammad Naseem Akhtar forced his way into the pre-quarter-finals of the Jubilee Insurance 43rd National Snooker Championship 2018 after routing second seed Muhammad Asif on the penultimate day of the preliminary round matches here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Friday.

It was another moment of triumph for the young Naseem Akhtar, who earned the honour of overpowering Muhammad Asif, the 2012 world amateur champion, for the first time in his career.

Besides the rampaging Naseem Akhtar, regarded as one of the most promising young cueists of the world, the others to have booked the spots in the knockout phase were top-seeded Asjad Iqbal, third seed Muhammad Bilal, eight seed Babar Masih, and the unseeded duo of Aakash Rafique and Abdul Sattar.

As many as 10 spots for the pre-quarters were still up for grabs as the cueists enter the arena on the sixth and final day of league matches on Saturday (today).

Asjad Iqbal has qualified from Group A with Muhammad Imran and Ali Haider placed at joint second position. Naseem Akhtar has advanced from Group B where Muhammad Asif is in a race with Muhammad Umar, the current national Under-18 champion, to clinch the other spot.

Muhammad Bilal has walked into the pre-quarter-finals from Group C after winning his first five matches with Usman Ahmed and Agha Bilawal competing for the runner-up slot. Aakash Rafique has made it to the last 16 from Group D where Shahid Aftab is favourite for the second position.

Unseeded Qadeer Abbas and Muhammad Majid Ali, a wild card entrant, jointly lead the charts in Group E with four wins each, but fifth seed Mubashir Raza still has a chance of turning the tables. Similarly, Group F was also open with a three-horse race featuring Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir, Muhammad Ahsan Javaid and Umair Alam.

Abdul Sattar has made it to the pre-quarters from Group G where Khurram Agha and Imran Shahzad are the contenders for the other slot. Babar Masih has progressed from Group H with Muhammad Ijaz and Sultan Muhammad fighting for the second place.

Results:

Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-1 (54-38, 125-0, 56-46, 30-62, 73-48); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Rambail Gul (KPK) 4-2 (57-31, 73-16, 71-0, 56-60, 35-56, 64-8); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) 4-1 (77-20, 99-23, 58-8, 54-78, 65-41); Muhammad Abdullah (KPK) bt Muhammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) 4-2 (71-19, 58-57, 36-70, 62-76, 76-53, 71-31); Muhammad Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) bt Saeed Ahmed (Bal) 4-1 (40-71, 73-25, 71-27, 69-38, 58-29); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-1 (40-54, 67-22, 72-8, 59-43, 58-35); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Haris Tahir (Pjb) 4-0 (62-50, 71-29, 65-51, 70-32); Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) bt Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) 4-3 (49-59, 77-08, 47-52, 57-24, 0-79, 67-27, 55-40); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Jahangir Yar Muhammad (Bal) 4-0 (walkover); Muhammad Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Muhammad Asif (Pjb) 4-2 (42-17, 61-30, 27-71, 35-63, 75-4, 70-57); Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-3 (48-62, 65-25, 21-54, 85-21, 9-70, 57-33, 55-53); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Musaddiq Mehmood (Isb) 4-0 (56-47, 92-16, 60-19, 60-50); Muhammad Majid Ali (Pjb) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-1 (9-83, 56-44, 56-35, 83-31, 69-30); Rambail Gul (KPK) bt Asif Toba (Pjb) 4-0 (93-9, 66-59, 100-13, 82-19); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Awaisullah (Pjb) 4-2 (5-52, 1-77, 64-57, 66-46, 94-6, 59-34); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Imran Shahzad (Pjb) 4-0 (83-23, 51-9, 109-1, 52-42); Ahmed Shah (Bal) bt Aamir Shahzad (KPK) 4-3 (77-70, 86-32, 34-73, 67-34, 35-61, 29-54, 62-39); Sharjeel Mahmood (KPK) bt Noman Javed (Isb) 4-1 (53-43, 22-67, 95-7, 63-49, 50-14); Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) bt Samiullah (Bal) 4-0 (68-29, 106-14, 55-35, 66-47); Muhammad Imran (KPK) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-0 (82-57, 58-48, 73-32, 0-99, 83-8); Sarbuland Khan (KPK) bt Rashid Mahmood Abbasi (Isb) 4-3 (62-25, 21-80, 26-76, 81-47, 14-44, 56-1, 53-14); Abdul Javaid (Pjb) bt Turyali Aziz (Bal) 4-1 (59-7, 65-24, 79-13, 1-69, 53-17); Aakash Rafique (KPK) bt Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) 4-1 (65-1, 47-51, 68-13, 59-29, 60-22); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Usman Ahmad (Pjb) 4-2 (58-0, 28-62, 75-106, 62-57, 65-44, 43-18); Musaddiq Mahmood (Isb) bt Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb) 4-3 (62-53, 44-63, 59-32, 38-70, 63-18, 56-63, 63-18); Aamir Sohail (KPK) bt Mahmood Khan (Bal) 4-0 (walkover); Farhan Noor (Pjb) bt Saif Ali Khan (Bal) 4-0 (69-42, 60-19, 58-11, 84-6).