NBP Snooker: Seeded quintet make it to last 16

KARACHI: The seeded quintet of Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Bilal, Babar Masih, Muhammad Majid Ali and Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir reached the pre-quarterfinals of the 10th NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2018 but the other three seeds, Muhammad Ahsan Javaid, Sultan Muhammad and Ali Haider, found themselves eliminated as the preliminary round matches concluded here at the NBP Sports Complex on Thursday.

After reseedings, fresh draws were taken out for the knockout phase later in the evening. All the eight quarter-finals, to be best of 9-frame encounters, will be taking place on Friday (today).

In the morning session, due to start at 11 am, top seeded Muhammad Asif will be pitted against Khurram Hussain Agha, Haris Tahir will be up against eighth seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir, Aakash Rafique will lock horns with Muhammad Shahbaz and Muhammad Ijaz will be taking on Asif Toba.

At the end of the league matches, top seeded Asif emerged the Group A champion with four victories in as many matches while unseeded Sirbuland Khan edged out Agha Bilawal on frame difference to clinch the runner-up spot.

Second seed Bilal also remained undefeated to top the Group B where unseeded Khurram Agha finished runner-up with three points, knocking out Shahid Aftab, the 2009 champion.Third seed Babar survived some anxious moments while winning his last league fixture against Sohail Shahzad in the Group C which took him into the pre-quarters at the expense of the former with Muhammad Ijaz claiming the runner-up slot.

Fourth seed Majid topped the Group D on frame difference after having been tied on points with Muhammad Shahbaz, who accompanied him in the last 16.Fifth seed Muhammad Ahsan Javaid was unable on make it to the next round as the unseeded duo of Aakash Rafique and Umair Alam ended as the champion and the runner-up respectively in the Group E Similar situation was witnessed in the Group F with Asif Toba and Rambail Gul, both unseeded, progressed ahead leaving no space for sixth seed Sultan.

Seventh seed Ali Haider also found himself eliminated as the top two positions in the Group G were shared between the unseeded duo of Asjad Iqbal, the defending champion, and Haris Tahir.Eighth seed Zulfiqar managed to become the Group H champion despite losing to Abdul Sattar in his last league fixture. Unseeded Sharjeel Mahmood, who also had three points, had to settle with the runner-up slot.

Results: Aamir Sohail (KP) bt Qadeer Abbas (Pjb) 4-1 (64-41, 29-64, 64-60, 73-54, 73-51); Muhammad Imran (KPK) bt Muhammad Faizan (Sindh) 4-3 (64-19, 65-46, 55-56, 54-42, 52-60, 39-57, 61-49); Rambail Gul (KP) bt Asif Toba (Pjb) 4-3 (9-66, 23-67, 66-7, 60-21, 28-72, 68-67, 69-34); Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Mubashir Raza (Pjb) 4-2 (71-25, 58-4, 29-89, 0-67, 89-37, 60-42); Farhan Noor (Pjb) bt Usman Ahmad (Pjb) 4-2 (38-63, 69-36, 46-68, 71-08, 53-39, 75-21); Rashid Mahmood Abbasi (Isb) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-3 (60-36, 25-67, 61-64, 67-32, 61-37, 49-41); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-3 (121-7, 89-16, 47-79, 63-23, 1-118, 55-63, 63-29); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Muhammad Umar (Pjb) 4-0 (63-20, 81-7, 54-21, 67-0); Aamir Sohail (KPK) bt Musaddiq Mahmood (Isb) 4-0 (62-54, 68-16, 63-1, 51-7); Aakash Rafique (KP) bt Muhammad Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) 4-1 (73-14, 74-30, 66-26, 49-58, 68-1); Muhammad Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) 4-3 (65-46, 72-18, 06-63, 66-41, 24-48, 37-67, 54-40); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Ali Haider (Pjb) 4-0 (91-10, 81-22, 108-12, 60-59); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) 4-3 (0-91, 34-58, 54-49, 29-65, 69-6, 69-1, 58-11); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-3 (5-71, 63-29, 31-53, 52-26, 18-63, 79-29, 74-64); Muhammad Majid Ali (Pjb) bt Qadeer Abbas (Pjb) 4-2 (22-54, 75-13, 69-38, 63-16, 12-83, 56-53); Muhammad Asif (Pjb) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (98-19, 24-75, 36-68, 95-14(75), 68-37, 61-54); Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Shahid Aftab (Pjb) 4-3 (26-69, 57-18, 61-51, 7-85, 65-45, 13-69,74-64).

Today’s fixtures: (Pre-quarterfinals): Muhammad Asif (Pjb) v Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh); Haris Tahir (Pjb) v Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh); Aakash Rafique (KP) v Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) v Asif Toba (Pjb); Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) v Umair Alam (Sindh); Rambail Gul (KPK) v Babar Masih (Pjb); Muhammad Majid Ali (Pjb) v Sirbuland Khan (KP); Sharjeel Mehmood (KP) v Asjad Iqbal (Pjb)