Unseeded trio, Asjad in last 16 of NBP Snooker

KARACHI: Defending champion Asjad Iqbal, along with the unseeded trio of Muhammad Shahbaz, Asif Toba and Sharjeel Mahmood, stormed in the pre-quarterfinals of the 10th NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2018 being staged here at the NBP Sports Complex.

The preliminary round matches of the event, being contested by 40 cueists, will be concluding on Thursday (today) at the end of which the top two performers from each of the eight groups will advance to the knockout rounds starting on Friday (tomorrow).

Top seeded Muhammad Asif has already booked his place in the pre-quarters from the Group A, heading it with three successive victories. All other four contestants, Agha Bilawal, Rashid Mahmood Abbasi, Sirbuland Khan and Ian Mark John have a chance of taking the runner-up spot going into the final day of league matches.

Both the knockout slots are up for the grabs in the Group B, C and E. With three straight victories, second seed Muhammad Bilal is the favourite to top the Group B where the experienced trio of Khurram Hussain Agha, Shahid Aftab and Muhammad Sajjad is battling out for the runner-up slot.

Third seed Babar Masih and unseeded Sohail Shahzad find themselves in strong position to progress to the last 16 from the Group C but fifth seed Muhammad Ahsan Javaid seems to be in trouble in the Group where he is trailing behind Umair Alam, Muhammad Faizan and Aakash Rafique. With unseeded Muhammad Shahbaz having secured his place in the pre-quarters from the Group D, fourth seed Muhammad Majid Ali finds himself in a spot of bother with Qadeer Abbas and Musaddiq Mahmood also staking claims in the Group E. Unseeded Asif Toba, with three victories on a trot, has stormed into the knockout rounds from the Group F where sixth seed Sultan Muhammad faces challenge from Rambail Gul and Muhammad Naseem Akhtar.

Holder Asjad Iqbal has done his chances of retaining the title no harm by qualifying for the pre-quarters from the Group G before the start of fierce battles on the final day of league matches. Seventh seed Ali Haider is struggling to avoid elimination after having lost his first couple of matches which has kept Mubashir Raza, Haris Tahir and Abdul Javaid in the hunt.

Both the top 16 slots from the Group H have already been decided as eighth seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and unseeded Sharjeel Mahmood have won three matches each.Results: Umair Alam (Sindh) bt M Faizan (Sindh) 4-1 (56-9, 62-26, 58-18, 33-67, 60-14); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Abdullah (KP) 4-1 (50-61, 67-11, 60-36, 55-23, 75-13); Abdul Javaid (Pjb) bt Haris Tahir (Pjb) 4-2 (16-62, 08-57, 63-31, 66-48, 72-53, 74-48); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Usman Ahmad (Pjb) 4-2 (68-0, 53-11, 52-79, 43-65, 73-31, 91-8); Ian Mark John (Sindh) bt Sirbuland Khan (KP) 4-2 (37-58, 9-74, 76-43, 78-30, 72-46, 61-13); M Sajjad (Pjb) bt Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) 4-3 (0-111, 47-62, 55-26, 81-9, 33-76, 77-04, 71-0); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt M Umar (Pjb) 4-1 (64-19, 75-6, 80-45, 60-71, 72-42); M Shahbaz (Pjb) bt Musaddiq Mahmood (Isb) 4-3 (117-5, 55-57, 35-57, 65-50, 78-44, 30-78, 53-37); Aakash Rafique (KP) bt M Imran (KPK) 4-0 (56-12, 70-46, 67-27, 72-9); Rambail Gul (KP) bt M Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) 4-2 (99-2, 84-30, 66-40, 24-86, 22-61, 50-41); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Mubashir Raza (Pjb) 4-2 (40-80, 74-55, 39-96, 61-51, 75-30, 67-30); Farhan Noor (Pjb) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-2 (72-17, 67-41, 24-73, 38-62, 66-40, 62-50); Rashid Mahmood Abbasi (Isb) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-3 (63-44, 61-0, 71-42, 41-85, 42-61, 25-69, 63-38); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Shahid Aftab (Pjb) 4-2 (68-9, 30-79, 65-40, 71-35, 14-79, 54-10); M Ijaz (Pjb) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-3 (11-77, 53-67, 90-22, 46-19, 60-10, 54-62, 95-43).