Unseeded Asjad, Sultan, Ali, Sohail move into pre-quarters

KARACHI: Unseeded Asjad Iqbal, Sultan Muhammad, Ali Haider and Sohail Shahzad booked their berths in the knockout phase of the Jubilee Insurance 44th National Snooker Championship 2019 whose league matches will end here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday (today).

The seeded trio of Babar Masih, Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and Muhammad Bilal have also confirmed their spots for the pre-quarter-finals. There are as many as nine places still up for grabs. Top seeded Babar Masih has qualified for the knockout stage with five straight victories in the Group A in which unseeded Muhammad Shahbaz is most likely to accompany him in the last-16 stage.

Second seed and defending champion Muhammad Asif is struggling for survival in the Group B, having lost two of his five matches. Unseeded Asjad Iqbal has moved into the pre-quarters from this group.

Third seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir, with his unblemished record in the competition, has advanced to the last 16 from the Group C in which Imran Shahzad and Shaikh Muhammad Mudassir are fighting for the other slot.

Unseeded Sultan, with five victories on a trot, has qualified for the pre-quarters from the Group D, leaving fourth seed Majid Ali in a tough situation. Both the spots in the Group E have already been decided. Fifth seed Muhammad Bilal and unseeded Ali Haider have made it to the last 16 and the winner of their match will decide the group champion.

Sixth seed Sharjeel Mahmood needs to win his last league fixture to stay afloat in the competition as he is being challenged by unseeded Agha Bilawal and Haris Tahir for the last-16 spots from the Group F.

Seventh seed Shahid Aftab, a former national champion, faces stiff competition to enter the quarter-finals from the Group G despite winning all his five matches. The unseeded duo of Abdul Sattar and Muhammad Ijaz is also in the run for the two positions.

Unseeded Sohail has moved into the knockout stage from the Group H. Eighth seed Rambail Gul needs to win his last league match to stay alive in the competition.

Results: Ahsan Ramzan (Pjb) bt Saif Ali Khan (Bal) 4-0 (68-56, 78-28, 69-34, 69-62); Ali Raza (Sindh) bt Abdul Jalil (KP) 4-0 (56-32, 48-40, 59-10, 63-57); Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) bt Musaddiq Mahmood (Isb) 4-1 (57-21, 80-22, 66-15 (65), 57-70, 80-5); Aamir Tariq (Pjb) bt Fawad Khan (KP) 4-2 (76-50, 63-71, 64-14, 41-64, 68-46, 49-7); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-0 (70-8, 77-7, 107-18 (56), 62-15); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Hamza Ilyas (Pjb) 4-1 (65-72, 67-10, 69-23, 61-29, 127-1); Ahmed Shah (Bal) bt Sirbuland Khan (KP) 4-0 (Walkover); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) 4-3 (74-30, 17-69, 48-59, 72-22, 58-21, 37-58, 73-45); Muhammad Mudassir (Isb) bt Farhan Khan (KP) 4-0 (67-26, 52-13, 83-1, 61-34); Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Rabish Pervez (Bal) 4-1 (76-7, 64-16, 74-12, 31-55, 67-55); Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb) bt Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) 4-3 (56-12, 33-72, 72-2, 43-76, 17-57, 58-24, 65-27); Aakash Rafique (KP) bt Munawwar Khaliq (Isb) 4-2 (77-6, 89-1, 37-75, 65-6, 33-70, 63-39); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Abdul Hameed (Bal) 4-1 (117-2, 31-68, 76-1, 60-39, 77-9); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-2 (71-29, 14-86, 62-53, 33-76, 102-8, 75-13); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Habib Shah (Bal) 4-0 (71-11, 75-0, 77-1, 47-13); Ameer Hamza Khan (Isb) bt Aamir Sohail (KP) 4-2 (60-39, 54-47, 78-37, 60-65, 45-58, 64-52); Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Abdul Majid (Sindh) 4-1 (74-1, 28-53, 83-3, 58-49, 112-17); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Saeed Khan (Bal) 4-0 (63-32, 60-16, 70-33, 60-30); Ali Haider (Pjb) bt Muhammad Saleem (KP) 4-1 (61-1, 77-8(, 13-67, 64-7, 58-7); Rashid Aziz (Punjab) bt Mirza Waqas Baig (Punjab) 4-0 (71-39, 62-60, 65-9, 55-23); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Shafiullah (KP) 4-3 (68-6, 52-69, 49-59, 37-78, 62-48, 44-31, 57-37); Ali Haider (Pjb) bt Mirza Waqas Baig (Pjb) 4-0 (71-0(, 81-16 (55), 80-24, 60-43); Rashid Aziz (Pjb) bt Muhammad Saleem (KP) 4-3 (67-18, 38-48, 46-71, 67-46, 8-63, 63-7, 64-23).