Asif, Shahid, Babar storm into quarter-finals

KARACHI: The unseeded duo of Asif Toba and Shahid Aftab, along with second seed Babar Masih, booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Jubilee Insurance Ranking Snooker Championship here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Thursday.The remaining five slots for the last eight will be decided on Friday (today).

Asif Toba, hailing from the city of Toba Tek Singh, moved into the quarter-finals after winning his first four matches in Group A. Top seed and defending champion Muhammad Asif and eighth seed Asjad Iqbal will be engaged in a do-or-die battle in the same group today.

Second seed Babar Masih, enjoying his best year in the national circuit, remained the only unbeaten seeded cueist in the competition and his four wins on the trot took him comfortably into the quarter-finals from Group B.

Sharjeel Mahmood and Muhammad Shahbaz, both unseeded, are in contention for the runner-up position in Group B.There is a three-horse race in Group C between third seed Muhammad Majid Ali, sixth seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and unseeded Rambail Gul.

Unseeded Shahid Aftab, a former national champion, secured his berth in the knockout phase from Group D after winning all four of his matches.

Fourth seed Muhammad Bilal, having lost one of his four matches, is very much in the hunt for a place in the quarter-finals.But fifth seed Muhammad Ijaz, who had stunned everyone by winning the NBP Snooker Championship last month, was knocked out of the competition after succumbing to defeats in all four of his outings.

Reseeding for the knockout phase will be done at the conclusion of the preliminary round matches later today.All four quarter-finals will be played simultaneously on Saturday (tomorrow).

Results:

Sirbuland Khan (KPK) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-1 (75-9, 69-34, 86-10, 0-87, 72-13); Muhammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) 4-0 (72-47, 48-43, 48-10, 72-31); Rambail Gul (KPK) bt Umair Alam (Sindh) 4-2 (6-73, 53-61, 64-32, 59-58, 55-43, 53-30); Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) bt Ali Haider (Punjab) 4-0 (86-13, 68-55, 70-60, 73-72); Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-1 (10-63, 62-14, 55-22, 69-14, 46-37); Sharjeel Mahmood (KPK) bt Aakash Rafique (KPK) 4-1 (40-74, 68-4, 55-38, 54-20, 41-3); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Muhammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) 4-2 (28-57, 65-25, 65-64, 25-59, 65-64, 71-48); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Muhammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-2 (69-59, 0-101, 64-48, 77-34, 20-57, 113-0); Muhammad Asif (Punjab) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-1 (59-40, 79-8, 20-64, 65-0, 68-6); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) 4-1 (34-62, 80-38, 56-13, 64-25, 63-20); Rambail Gul (KPK) bt Muhammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-1 (77-26, 13-77, 65-44, 62-53, 69-35); Muhammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) 4-2 (71-50, 68-13, 69-70, 102-0, 37-75, 57-28); Sirbuland Khan (KPK) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (68-8, 67-79, 42-74, 67-9, 64-24, 66-37); Muhammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Muhammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) 4-3 (30-59, 68-43, 23-60, 60-44, 55-40, 0-64, 61-24); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Ali Haider (Punjab) 4-0 (54-33, 64-47, 62-12, 56-40).