Jubilee Insurance Ranking Snooker Championship 2018: Toba, Shahid, Babar reach quarterfinals

KARACHI: The unseeded duo of Asif Toba and Shahid Aftab, alongwith second seed Babar Masih, booked their place in the quarter-finals by the end of the penultimate day of the preliminary rounds matches in the Jubilee Insurance Ranking Snooker Championship 2018 here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Thursday.

The remaining five slots for the last eight will be decided on the basis of the results of the fourth and day of league matches on Friday (today).

Asif Toba, hailing from the city of Toba Tek Singh, has moved into the quarter-finals by winning his first four matches in the Group A in which top seeded and defending champion Muhammad Asif and eighth seed Asjad Iqbal will be engaged in a do-or-die battle 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 a trot took him comfortably into the quarter-finals from the Group B. Sharjeed Mahmood and Muhammad Shahbaz, both unseeded, are in contention for the runner-up position in the Group B with seventh seed Aakash Rafique having already been eliminated after suffering a couple of defeats in four outings.

There is a three-horse race in the Group C between third seed Muhammad Majid Ali, sixth seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and unseeded Rambail Gul.

Unseeded Shahid Aftab, a former national champion, has secured his berth in the knockout phase from the Group D, having won all his four 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, has been knocked out of the competition after succumbing to defeats in all his four matches. Reseeding will be done for the knockout phase, at the conclusion of the preliminary round matches, later today. All the four quarter-finals will be played simultaneously on Saturday (tomorrow) with both the semifinals to be held on Sunday and the final to be staged on Monday next.

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).