Asif registers convincing victory in NBP Snooker

KARACHI: For the first time in three days, all the eight seeded cueists won their matches in NBP Ranking Snooker Championship here at the NBP Sports Complex on Tuesday.

Top seed Muhammad Asif, a former world champion, stole the limelight by chalking up a superb break of 138 against Rashid Mahmood Abbasi, surpassing Sharjeel Mahmood’s break of 131 registered a day earlier.

Third seed Babar Masih also fired a century break, of 109, as he blanked Muhammad Ijaz in straight frames. Second seed Muhammad Bilal was made to work harder for his 4-2 victory over the vastly experienced Khurram Hussain Agha, a former Asian number three.

Fourth seed Majid Ali faced little fight from Aamir Sohail who lost 4-1. Majid compiled breaks of 56 and 60 in the third and the fifth frames, respectively. Fifth seed Ahsan Javaid finally opened his account in the competition. Having lost both his earlier matches, he succeeded in defeating Muhammad Imran 4-2.

Sixth seed Sultan Muhammad comfortably saw off the enigmatic Rambail Gul, who has had the reputation of performing giant-killing acts.Seventh seed Ali Haider finally came into his elements in his third outing. Having suffered defeats at the hands of unseeded rivals on the first couple of days, he recaptured his form to blast Mubashir Raza 4-1, constructing impressive breaks of 69 and 56 in the first and the last frames, respectively.

Eighth seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir was once again in firm control as he outwitted the dangerous Farhan Noor 4-2. He displayed his growing stature while building a fantastic break of 94 in the second frame.Other prominent cueists who won their matches were Asjad Iqbal, Naseem Akhtar, Sharjeel Mahmood, Sohail Shahzad and Shahid Aftab.

Results: Sirbuland Khan (KP) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (73-18, 41-81, 83-1, 14-56, 68-37, 87-33); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) 4-2 (71-57, 31-66, 54-41, 34-86, 75-32, 77-8); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Imran Shahzad (Pjb) 4-1 (26-88, 94-25, 71-43, 62-39, 64-12); Qadeer Abbas (Pjb) bt Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb) 4-1 (76-44, 40-68, 66-56, 88-22, 68-33); Aakash Rafique (KP) bt Umair Alam (Sindh) 4-2 (31-77, 67-44, 67-41, 48-81, 71-35, 67-60); Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Abdullah (KP) 4-3 (57-66, 52-56, 13-60, 61-26, 67-25, 78-28, 85-10); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Abdul Javaid (Pjb) 4-0 (69-50, 73-32, 81-43, 71-34); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-2 (68-47, 20-97, 53-46, 62-33, 23-66, 71-40); Muhammad Asif (Pjb) bt Rashid Mahmood Abbasi (Isb) 4-0 (70-16, 65-64, 96-33, 138-4); Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) 4-2 (65-40, 60-48, 66-85, 0-95, 54-18, 61-21); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) 4-0 (82-30, 60-41, 109-0, 61-18); Majid Ali (Pjb) bt Aamir Sohail (KP) 4-1 (75-22, 38-73, 69-9, 54-34, 74-8); Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) bt Muhammad Imran (KP) 4-2 (45-42, 57-43, 53-57, 64-59, 18-50, 47-38); Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) bt Rambail Gul (KP) 4-1 (91-1, 61-66, 67-27, 84-24, 54-52); Ali Haider (Pjb) bt Mubashir Raza (Pjb) 4-1 (70-23, 67-52, 68-34, 0-71, 56-7); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Farhan Noor (Pjb) 4-2 (58-16, 94-1, 54-66, 67-35, 0-82, 51-45); Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb) bt Aamir Sohail (KP) 4-2 (58-60, 32-83, 75-44, 64-33, 61-33, 59-13).