Ahsan stuns top-ranked Bilal in Ranking Snooker

KARACHI: 16-year-old Ahsan Ramzan shocked Pakistan’s top-ranked cueist Muhammad Bilal on the second day of preliminary round matches of the 11th edition of NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2019 here at the NBP Sports Complex on Monday.

There were quite a few other upsets too, as six of the eight seeded cueists succumbed to defeats at the hands of unseeded opponents to jeopardize their chances of qualifying for the knockout rounds.

Besides top-seeded Bilal, fourth seed Ali Haider, fifth seed Babar Masih, sixth seed Muhammad Ijaz, seventh seed Muhammad Asif and eighth seed Agha Bilawal also faced the music which has opened up the competition.

Second seed Asjad Iqbal and third seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir remained on course of booking their berths in the pre-quarter-finals after having survived the initial onslaught.

Ali Haider was brought down to earth by Muhammad Sajjad, the two-time national champion and a former world number two, who showed glimpses of his vintage form after enduring a lean patch from his own high standards.

Babar Masih, having opened his campaign with a bang the other day, was unable to put his acts together against unseeded Rashid Aziz while sixth seed and defending champion Muhammad Ijaz was edged out by Shaikh Muhammad Mudassir after a seven-frame duel.

Seventh seed Muhammad Asif, a former world champion, was blown away by unseeded Mubashir Raza while eighth seed Agha Bilawal was undone by unseeded Abdul Sattar, also from the province of Sindh.

The biggest upset of the day, however, was caused by Ahsan Ramzan, the young and promising teenager from Punjab, who succeeded in blowing the whistle on the reigning national champion, Muhammad Bilal, also hailed as the most accomplished all-round cueist of the country.

A total of 33 cueists, divided into eight groups, are contesting the preliminary rounds which will be concluded on Wednesday (tomorrow). The top two cueists from each of the eight groups will advance to the knockout rounds, due to start with the pre-quarter-finals on Thursday.

Results: Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Muhammad Mudassir (Isb) 4-2 (65-44, 54-12, 51-63, 50-61, 64-24, 59-47); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Aakash Rafique (KPK) 4-2 (70-57, 44-76 (57), 75-44, 72-54, 4-88, 88-9); Rambail Gul (KPK) bt Abu Saim (Pjb) 4-3 (21-76, 78-56, 13-94, 64-36, 62-60, 34-71, 61-57); Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) bt Ali Haider (Pjb) 4-1 (69-10, 91-46, 66-23, 4-73, 75-0); Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb) bt Shahid Aftab (Pjb) 4-2 (71-39, 82-48, 32-56, 18-40, 77-52); Aamir Tariq (Pjb) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (77-42, 20-72, 73-49, 50-73, 63-33, 88-23); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Hamza Ilyas (Pjb) 4-0 (58-51, 62-19, 128-0, 56-20); Rashid Aziz (Pjb) bt Babar Masih (Pjb) 4-2 (79-0, 89-26, 42-71, 95-6, 24-75, 65-33); Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Imran Qamar (Pjb) 4-1 (54-34, 20-86, 61-27, 68-53, 65-14); Shaikh Muhammad Mudassir (Pjb) bt Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) 4-3 (73-60, 15-66, 76-31, 15-59, 69-15, 5-104, 74-54); Muhammad Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Sharjeel Mahmood (KPK) 4-3 (109-20, 22-61, 53-67, 70-45, 68-17, 36-61, 99-0); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Muhammad Asif (Pjb) 4-2 (83-16, 64-13, 9-81, 0-94, 67-55, 52-3); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-3 (64-2, 22-68, 104-0, 23-51, 78-8, 0-72, 100-16); Aamir Tariq (Pjb) bt Hamza Ilyas (Pjb) 4-0 (63-29, 68-15, 73-1, 60-32); Ahsan Ramzan (Pjb) bt Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) 4-1 (68-30, 74-50, 70-47, 24-77, 69-55); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Muhammad Mudassir (Isb) 4-1 (80-15, 73-22, 84-0, 22-62, 84-0).