NBP Ranking Snooker: Faizan, Toba, Haris, Sharjeel steal limelight

KARACHI: Unseeded Muhammad Faizan, Asif Toba, Haris Tahir and Sharjeel Mahmood stole the limelight on the second day of preliminary round matches of 10th NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2018 here at the NBP Sports Complex on Monday.

Faizan, a local cueist, compiled the first century break of the competition and shocked fifth seed Ahsan Javaid. Toba stunned sixth seed Sultan Muhammad and Haris caused an upset when he routed seventh seed Ali Haider.

Sharjeel chalked up a sensational break of 131, the highest of the first two days. Seeded Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Bilal, Babar Masih, Majid Ali and Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir registered victories over their respective rivals to stay on course for claiming a spot in the knockout phase, starting with pre-quarter-finals.

Asif, Bilal and Zulfiqar were the three unbeaten seeded cueists after playing two matches. Ahsan and Ali Haider lost both their matches. Babar, Majid and Sultan won and lost a game each.

Top seeded Asif, the 2012 world champion, made it two in two by overpowering Ian Mark John 4-1. Second seed Bilal outgunned the struggling Muhammad Sajjad, a former world number two, 4-2.

Third seed Babar made no mistake while thrashing Muhammad Umar in straight frames. Fourth seed Majid had to bring all his expertise into play to outwit Musaddiq Mahmood of Islamabad 4-3.Eighth seed Zulfiqar extended his unbeaten run in the tournament by defeating Usman Ahmed 4-2.

Results: Muhammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) 4-1 (67-37, 67-55, 89-0, 10-63, 56-6); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) 4-1 (63-12, 54-41, 46-85, 75-18, 53-16); Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Ali Haider (Pjb) 4-2 (31-75, 70-49, 38-62, 85-0, 48-36, 62-0); Zulfiqar Qadir (Sindh) bt Usman Ahmad (Pjb) 4-2 (1-0, 33-67, 54-18, 66-30, 42-65, 70-24); Muhammad Asif (Pjb) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-1 (92-8, 68-30, 83-4, 28-72, 79-9); Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-2 (28-76, 68-16, 70-11, 39-59, 66-58, 61-54); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Muhammad Umar (Pjb) 4-0 (84-39, 80-5, 67-41, 89-3); Muhammad Majid Ali (Pjb) bt Musaddiq Mahmood (Isb) 4-3 (10-63, 41-54, 76-17, 82-8, 18-66, 67-35, 48-13); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Muhammad Imran (KP) 4-0 (71-8, 81-23, 61-1, 68-48); Abdullah (KP) bt Rambail Gul (KP) 4-0 (88-1, 70-42, 63-29, 67-26); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Abdul Javaid (Pjb) 4-1 (55-47, 8-131, 63-42, 107-2, 68-49); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Farhan Noor (Pjb) 4-3 (17-72(51), 131-12, 58-32, 53-35, 15-60, 31-69, 80-7); Sirbuland Khan (KP) bt Rashid Mahmood Abbasi (Isb) 4-1 (52-14, 56-26, 52-36, 67-74, 62-20); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) 4-2 (86-2, 64-59, 74-44, 38-74, 29-75, 72-7); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Imran Shahzad (Pjb) 4-2 (65-52, 58-46, 82-7, 8-85, 5-76, 70-35).