Unseeded players excel in NBP Snooker

KARACHI: The unseeded quartet of 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 while shocking fifth seed Muhammad Ahsan Javaid, Asif Toba stunned sixth seed Sultan Muhammad and Haris Tahir caused an upset by routing seventh seed Ali Haider.

Sharjeel, coming from Khyber Pakthunkhwa (KPK), chalked up a sensational break of 131 which remained the highest on the first couple of days of the nine-day event, being contested by a total of 40 cueists. The other five seeded cueists, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Bilal, Babar Masih, Muhammad Majid Ali and Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir registered victories over their respective rivals to stay on course of claiming a spot in the knockout phase, starting with pre-quarters.

Asif, Bilal and Zulfiqar were the three unbeaten seeded cueists after having played two matches. Ahsan and Ali Haider were the only ones to have lost both their matches while Babar, Majid and Sultan have 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 while 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 while 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: M Faizan (Sindh) bt M 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); M Asif (Pjb) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-1 (92-8, 68-30, 83-4, 28-72, 79-9); M Bilal (Pjb) bt M Sajjad (Pjb) 4-2 (28-76, 68-16, 70-11, 39-59, 66-58, 61-54); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt M Umar (Pjb) 4-0 (84-39, 80-5, 67-41, 89-3); M 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 M 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); M Ijaz (Pjb) bt Imran Shahzad (Pjb) 4-2 (65-52, 58-46, 82-7, 8-85, 5-76, 70-35).

Today’s fixtures: Aamir Sohail (KP) v M Shahbaz (Pjb); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) v Sirbuland Khan (KP); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) v Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) v Imran Shahzad (Pjb); Qadeer Abbas (Pjb) v M Shahbaz (Pjb); Aakash Rafique (KP) v Umair Alam (Sindh); M Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) v Abdullah (KP); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) v Abdul Javaid (Pjb); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) v Sharjeel Mahmood (KP); M Asif (Pjb) v Rashid Mahmood Abbasi (Isb); M Bilal (Pjb) v Khurram Agha (Sindh); Babar Masih (Pjb) v M Ijaz (Pjb; M Majid Ali (Pjb) v Aamir Sohail (KP); Muhammad Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) v M Imran (KP); Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) v Rambail Gul (KP); Ali Haider (Pjb) v Mubashir Raza (Pjb); Zulfiqar Qadir (Sindh) v Farhan Noor (Pjb).